Worlds Apart
by PurpleWaterLily24
Summary: Ichigo goes to a new school called Sora Academy to make a fresh start. She always wanted to go there as it has been her dream. But soon disaster strikes and everything slowly starts to change. She ends up doing something unexpected, something she never thought she would do. She committed the most dangerous crime: She fell in love. (Chapter 41 now up!)
1. We Are Here

**Hello everyone! I know I haven't updated any stories for a long time, but I was really busy and it took me ages to figure out the plot and the names for the story. And I know its really short but you know me...The first few of my stories are always short. By the way, in this story Kisshu is a human (I hope you lot don't start hating me now because of that). Anyways, here is the first chapter for my new story and I hope you like it!**

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Ichigo gave a long sigh. She stared at the map she was holding and kept walking, careful not to bump into anyone. She was nearly there. All she had to do was tokeep walking and hope that she was reading the map correctly. She had never been to that place before so she was still getting used to it. A few questions kept popping up in her mind: What if she gets lost? What if she is late right in her first day? Ichigo stopped walking and violently shook her head, trying to get those thoughts away. After taking a deep breath, convincing herself that everything was going to be alright, she started walking again.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was free from clouds so it was a bright blue instead. Ichigo stared at the map trying to get something out of it but she couldn't get a thing. Ichigo groaned in annoyance. This was useless. At this rate, she was never going to be able to go to school. At least not in time anyway.

Ichigo was so busy staring at the map that she wasn't even looking where she was going. She kept walking until she bumped into someone and heard a loud noise of books falling to the ground. I chigo quickly put the map away to see who she bumped into. Ichigo gasped and apologised at a tall, shy looking girl standing in front of her.

"I am so sorry!" the girl said as she bent down to pick up the books. Ichigo picked them up as well and helped her.

"No, I am sorry. I should have been looking where I was going," Ichigo told her apologetically.

"Oh don't worry, its fine," she replied, her green eyes shone brightly and her lips turned into a smile.

Ichigo smiled back and apologised one more time as she handed over her books that fell to the ground.

"I was just…Er…I got a little bit lost and then…"Ichigo stopped talking and took a good look at the girl holding a pile of books. She was wearing a grey skirt along with a white shirt and a black blazer. She had long white socks and black shoes. She looked at the logo in her blazer. It didn't take her long to realise that she was wearing the same school uniform as her.

Ichigo gave another gasp, "Are you…Are you going to Sora Academy?"

The girl gave her another smile and nodded, "Yes."

Ichigo jumped in excitement, "Great! I am going there as well but it's my first time there and now I am lost and don't know what to do! I mean, in my old school I had this really stupid habit when I kept getting late and I don't want the same thing to happen to this because it's my first day otherwise everything will end up in a disaster and my dad is going to kill me if he finds out that I had a detention right on my first day of school and-"

"Do you want me to show you where it is?" she gave a small giggle, trying not to laugh too much.

Ichigo was panicking, only after a few seconds she realised that she had been blabbering some nonsense without even thinking what she was saying. Ichigo sighed, "Can you? Please?"

The girl nodded, "Sure!"

Ichigo gave a sigh of relief. Now she was sure everything was going to be alright. She even felt stupid for panicking so much. She just hoped that the girl didn't think she was a weirdo.

"Oh and um…My name is Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you, I am Lettuce."

Lettuce and Ichigo smiled at each other. Both of them kept walking for a while. Ichigo kept looking around, trying to remember where she was going so she wouldn't get lost again the next time she has to come back. Lettuce looked at Ichigo and stopped walking. Ichigo stopped too and looked confused for a moment. But then when she looked ahead and realised why they stopped.

"We are here."


	2. The Canteen

RIIING! A loud noise interrupted Ichigo's thoughts. When she realised that it was the buzzer for lunch, she started packing her books away. Lettuce from the other side of the room smiled at her and gestured to get out of the classroom since the buzzer rang. Soon, everyone started packing their books and other bits of stationary away, not bothering to wait for the teacher to tell the to do so. When the teacher dismissed everyone, they all rushed out of the class room.

"Ichigo, can I have a word with you please?" the teacher asked.

"You go ahead, I will wait for you outside," Lettuce whispered and went outside. Ichigo nodded at her and went over to her teacher.

A few minutes later, Ichigo came out of the classroom and found Lettuce waiting for her.

"What did she say?"

"Oh she just a reminded me of a few school rules, that's all. Anyway, what do you guys do here for fun?" Ichigo asked as she walked alongside Lettuce.

"Well, I spend most of the time in the library but I don't think that is your idea of _fun_…"

"I don't mind the library. We can go there if you want."

"Alright. But let's go and have lunch first," lettuce smiled.

Ichigo nodded. She was really hungry and she couldn't wait to have her lunch.

There were crowds of people in the canteen. Ichigo and Lettuce found a quiet place in the corner to sit. So they both took out their lunches and started eating. Ichigo was glad she found a friend already. She hasn't even been there for a whole day yet, and she already made a friend. Ichigo sighed at the thought of her old friends in her old school.

She hated the way she had to leave them like that. But maybe she was going to make more friends in Sora Academy. It was one of the most expensive schools in Tokyo and her parents had to work very hard to get her there. It took them years to save up enough money for her to be able to go to that school. When she was younger, she used have little fantasies of the school and always wanted to go there. Ichigo giggled at her thoughts. Now that she was finally here, it felt like a dream.

"So how long have you been in this school?" Ichigo asked Lettuce as she took out her lunch from her bag.

"Oh have been here for over three years now," Lettuce told her as she too took out her lunch and neatly placed it on the table.

"It must feel amazing to be here, I've always wanted to come here since I was little but my parents didn't have enough money to send me here until now," Ichigo kept talking for a while but she soon stopped when she realised that Lettuce was just calmly eating her meal and she wasn't taking part in the conversation. So in other words, Ichigo was the only one doing the talking.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo looked at her, confused.

Lettuce sighed, "It's nothing."

"Why did you become so quiet all of a sudden?"

"I just love…" Lettuce paused and looked at Ichigo's confused expression for a moment before starting again, "The way you talk about this school as if it's the best place in the world when you haven't even seen half of it yet." Lettuce said before she packed her lunch away and left the canteen.

Ichigo blinked a few times trying to get what happened, _"Was it something I said?"_ Ichigo thought praying to God that she didn't mistakenly hurt Lettuce's feelings. But she was just talking about the school. What did she do wrong?

Ichigo gave a shrug. She will just have to ask her the next time she sees her. She was just about to start eating her lunch when she heard a loud scream. Ichigo looked around as thousands of people stood up excitedly.

"What on Earth…" Ichigo slowly started to stand up as well; she was still unsure of what the whole racket was about. A few girls gave a loud squeal and started to jump up and down.

"Look! Look! He's here!" Someone shouted.

Ichigo looked to where everyone was pointing. After a while, Ichigo saw three people walking next to each other. There was a boy with short, dark purple hair and indigo coloured eyes. He was thin and very tall. Probably a few heads taller than Ichigo. There was another short boy with straight, dark brown hair. He also had dark brown eyes that matched the colour of his eyes. Ichigo guessed that he was probably a few years younger than him. And in between them, there was another boy. He had dark green hair and unbelievable shining golden coloured eyes. The weird hair and eye colour surprisingly, suited all three of them.

Ichigo didn't know what to do. She never saw them before but everyone else seemed to know them since they were all crowding around them. Ichigo walked up to a girl who – like everyone else – was admiring the three mysterious looking boys.

"Um…Excuse-me?" Ichigo said a little loudly so she could hear her form the loud squeals of excitement from everyone else, "What's going on?"

"Er, what? Oh the Ikisatashis are here," she said.

"Who are they?" Ichigo asked.

The girl stared at her for a moment, "You don't know who they are?"

Not sure she was supposed to but Ichigo shook her head in reply. She still had no idea what was going on.

"How can you not have heard of them? They are the most handsome and richest boys in our school! Every single girl has a crush on them. Just look at them, aren't they so cute?"

Ichigo gave a nervous laugh, "Okay then…"

"Look, the one with green hair is called Kisshu, the shortest one is Taruto and the other one is called Pai. Okay?" she said pointing at each one of them.

Ichigo gave a small nod and walked away from her.

"_Kisshu, Pai and Taruto_," Ichigo thought trying to get those names in her head. She took one more look at them and then shook her head, _"Crazy people…"_

Nevertheless, Ichigo watched them walk out of the room, like everyone else. When they left the canteen and closed the door behind them, the crowd slowly died away and the noise went back to how it was before. Everyone went back to what they were doing before and Ichigo was left, there standing. Ichigo sighed. She looked at the door they left from before she sat back down to her table, back to eating her lunch.

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**Ok so this was the second chapter for this story. It took me ages to update because I was really busy and I nearly forgot about this story. In the next few chapters, Kisshu, Pai and Taruto will be appearing more. So...yeah...Thanks for reading!**


	3. Silence

Ichigo walked in the school corridor alone, holding a few of her school books. Ichigo gave a long, loud sigh; she was bored and didn't know what to do.

"_Where has Lettuce gone?" _Ichigo thought, "_I guess I will just have to look around the school alone_."

Ichigo walked up to her locker and put a few of her books that she didn't need. She double checked that she has locked her locker and put her keys back safely in her bag. Ichigo was just about to go to her school library when she heard footsteps coming towards her. She turned around to see who it was.

It was that tall boy Ichigo remembered seeing in the canteen. Ichigo looked at him for a moment, but he didn't seem to notice her. He just calmly walked past her to the opposite direction. Ichigo looked at him walk away. If those people from the canteen were there in the corridors, there would be another racket.

Ichigo quickly put her hands in her cheeks, "_Am I blushing?!" _Ichigo thought to herself, confused. She shook her head and giggled to herself. He was pretty good-looking, after all.

Ichigo quickly ran to the library, she looked around trying to not get lost. The school was massive, so it was pretty hard for Ichigo to find her way around.

"Lettuce!" Ichigo called out when she saw Lettuce sat down in the corner holding a book. Lettuce looked at and when she realised it was Ichigo, she gave a small wave and gestured to come and sit down with her.

"Hi, I was just finishing this book."

"You were in the library all this time? I was looking for you," Ichigo said as she sat down.

"So what have you been doing?"

"I was just walking around the school. Anyway, I need to ask you a question."

Lettuce put her book away and waited for Ichigo to ask her question, "What is it?"

"Who are Kisshu, Pai and Taruto?" Ichigo asked.

Lettuce's eyes widened, "You have met them?"

"No not really but they were in the canteen and they seemed to be really popular…"

"D…Did they say anything to you?" Lettuce asked.

"No…"

"Did they do anything to you?"

"Um…No. What do you mean?"

Lettuce gave a sigh of relief, "Then you don't need to know anything about them," Lettuce

"Ok…I was just wondering because it looked like everyone knew them."

"They come from very rich families, that's why. People in here can be really stupid, though. It's all about money and nothing else." Lettuce sighed.

"I don't see them very often."

"Yes, that's because they are hardly ever at school. Anyway, we shouldn't waste time talking about them. And-" Lettuce was just about to finish off her sentence but she was interrupted by a few girls who were walking towards her.

"Move," one of the girls said. Her eyes were fixed into a cold hard stare. She didn't say anything else. She was about the same height as Lettuce and she had short, curly hair. Ichigo had never seen her before – like most people in the school. She was still getting to know everyone.

Lettuce stopped talking and stared back at the girl with curly hair, "M…Miyuki…" she whispered.

"What are you staring at? We said move," another girl demanded. Ichigo looked at Lettuce for a moment, it took her a few seconds to realise that Lettuce looked uncomfortable.

Lettuce slowly gave a nod and slowly stood up, "Ichigo, let's go," Lettuce said. He voice was so quiet that she could hardly hear her.

"Hey wait, we were here first," Ichigo protested.

"What did you say?" The girl with curly hair asked.

Lettuce quickly gestured to be quiet. Ichigo didn't know who those girls were and she didn't know why Lettuce looked so…Scared of them. Whatever the reason was, they couldn't just come out of nowhere and tell them to leave. But since Lettuce was getting so tense, Ichigo decided to keep quiet.

"N…Nothing," Ichigo replied and stood up.

Lettuce and Ichigo both took their bags and left.

"What was that all about? Who were those girls?" Ichigo asked.

"They're no one. Just ignore them," Lettuce said, she didn't stop walking.

Ichigo kept quiet throughout the whole time. Because no matter how much she tried to talk to Lettuce, she would just reply with her silence. Instead, Ichigo just walked alongside her and decided to talk to her again when things were so…Confusing. Ichigo still didn't know what was going on. She just had to wait to find out. Now, all she could do was get used to the awkward silence surrounding her.

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**Hey everyone! This was the next chapter this story and I know the story itself might not be making any sense right now, but everything will be explained in the future chapters. Thank you so much for being patient because I know am taking ages to update. Now that its the Christmas break, I will probably have more free time and I will try to update more often. Anyway, thank you so much if you are reading this! **


	4. Whatever Happens Happens

"Ichigo! Why don't you come downstairs and have dinner?" Ichigo's mother said as she came in Ichigo's room. Ichigo looked and smiled at her mother. She looked at page number one more time so she wouldn't forget where she left the next time she started reading again.

"What are you doing, sweetheart?" Ichigo's mother, Mrs Momomiya, asked.

"Just reading," Ichigo replied.

"You must be studying so hard."

"Well, I have to. Sora Academy has very high expectations and I want to be the highest in class," Ichigo laughed.

"I am sure you will," Ichigo's mother patted Ichigo on the head and smiled, "But you will never be able to do that if you don't eat first. Why don't you come downstairs and eat? You can finish reading your book before you go to bed."

Ichigo nodded at her mum and smiled as she followed her downstairs to the table. It didn't take long for Ichigo to finish her dinner since she was very hungry and hardly had anything to eat for lunch. She wanted to finish early because she had school tomorrow and she didn't want to wake up late and end up going to school late.

Luckily, that hasn't happened yet but Ichigo wanted to make sure she had lots of sleep so she could concentrate as much as she could at school. It took a lot of work for her to just be able to enter the school, and now that she is finally there, she knows that she needs to work as much as she can.

So after dinner Ichigo went to sleep. She turned the lights off and closed her eyes as she laid her head on her pillow. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

The next day, Ichigo woke up earlier than usual and started changing to her school uniform. She started to giggle when she saw herself in the mirror. She still hasn't brushed her hair yet so her hair was still a big mess. So after brushing her hair and cleaning her bed, she went downstairs to have breakfast.

Everything went just like it was supposed to go after that. She managed to finish her breakfast in time and she even met Lettuce on the way to school. Both Lettuce and Ichigo walked to their classes. The buzzer hasn't rang yet so both of them were pretty early.

"So how's everything going?" Lettuce asked.

"Good, I suppose," Ichigo replied.

"How was the test?"

"Which one?"

"The one we had a few days ago."

"Oh…That one," Ichigo said, remembering the test that she had a few days ago. She knew that she was going to get her results today; the thought itself was freaking her out. She knew she did horribly in the test. It was just so different to the tests they used to have at her old school. Ichigo would easily get full marks without even having to revise or look at the topic they were doing. But everything in Sora Academy was just so difficult. The tests, the homework and even talking to people felt strange. Everyone just seemed so caught up with their lives. The only person Ichigo felt comfortable talking to was Lettuce.

"So how do you think you did?" Lettuce asked.

"Meh, don't even ask," Ichigo sighed and put her head on the table.

Lettuce laughed, "You can't possibly have done that bad."

"It was so complicated though."

"Did you miss any questions out?"

"No…"

"Then what are you so worried about? That was the easiest test we get here."

"Wha…You mean there is more?"

Lettuce burst out laughing as Ichigo groaned. But she soon comforted her and told her that it was going to be alright.

"What do you think you lot are doing here?" A loud voice asked.

Ichigo turned around, confused. It was the same girl she saw at lunch the other day. The girl that Lettuce refused to talk about.

"What is she doing here," Ichigo whispered.

"How long will it take you to realise that you are not wanted here?" The girl asked.

"Miyuki…What do you want now?" Lettuce asked, her voice was cold and she looked angry but Ichigo noticed that her hands were shaking under the table.

"I want you out of here. That's what I want," Miyuki said with a sarcastic smile, "You know that you don't belong here, and neither does your stupid friend over there."

Ichigo looked away; she knew she was talking about her. Ichigo doesn't know who that Miyuki girl was but she didn't have the right to talk to Lettuce like that. Lettuce didn't do anything wrong as far as she was concerned and neither did Ichigo herself. So what gave her the right to talk to people like that?

Ichigo stood up and looked at Miyuki in the eye, "Excuse-me, I don't know who you are but you have to stop talking to us like that and leave us alone."

Lettuce gasped, her eyes widened as Ichigo said that. Lettuce didn't expect Ichigo to say anything like that at all and neither did Miyuki judging by the look on her face.

Miyuki didn't say anything, she just smiled. Not a caring and sweet smile like Lettuce gave every time she smiled. But something completely the opposite. Her smile was just a disguise to cover her anger. Inside, she was probably fuming, Ichigo couldn't tell. But she seemed to stay very calm.

"Look at the nerve," she said still putting on her smile. Miyuki didn't say another word and left Ichigo and Lettuce alone. Miyuki leaving made Ichigo feel much better, something about that girl scared Ichigo. She wouldn't mind standing up to her but it felt strange doing that and although Ichigo knew she was doing the right thing but she didn't know why she felt like she did something wrong.

"What have you done?" Lettuce asked when Miyuki left.

"I don't get you at all. That girl is a big bully, you can't be so scared of her like that or she is just going to keep taking advantage of you," Ichigo told her.

"I know, that's the whole point!"

"What?"

"Ichigo…Just…"

But before Lettuce could say anything else, the buzzer rang and everyone started coming in the classroom. Lettuce sighed and sat back to her seat. So did Ichigo. She knew it wasn't Lettuce's fault and she knew why she was mad at her. Now of what Ichigo did, she knew that Miyuki would come back.

Ichigo looked at Lettuce for a moment and sighed. She took out her books and her pencil case to start the lesson. Now whatever happens happens.

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**Hey guys! I know I haven't updated in ages but that doesn't mean that I forgot about this story. So please keep reading and I hope you have enjoyed reading this chapter!**


	5. A Fight

Ichigo walked past the canteen, looking for Lettuce. Lettuce didn't talk to her since what happened with Miyuki yesterday. Ichigo understood Lettuce's anger towards her but wasn't it going too far in a way? Lettuce should tell someone that she was getting bullied, at least. Maybe a teacher, they could surely help. And Ichigo isn't one of those people who could easily just sit there, doing nothing if other people were being mean. She didn't even understand Miyuki's problem. Why was she being like that to Lettuce? Lettuce is probably the sweetest and the kindest girl she has ever known, so what could she possibly have done for deserving to be treated in such a way?

And what did she mean by 'you are not wanted here'? Why wasn't Lettuce wanted? Why wasn't she wanted _where?_ And why is Lettuce refusing to talk about anything? Because as far as Ichigo was concerned, if she keeps quiet, matters will just become worse. And what made Ichigo even more annoyed, was that now Miyuki will start having a go at her for standing up to Lettuce. But maybe Ichigo will find out what is really going on if that happens.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Ichigo heard a group of people shouting from the canteen.

_"What's going on?" _Ichigo thought. She turned back around. The noise was coming from the canteen, Ichigo slowly walked back, wondering where all the noise was coming from.

She entered in and gasped.

"_What the hell…"_

There were a group of surrounding a few boys fighting.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" they all shouted, louder and louder each time.

Ichigo stared at the two boys fighting, shocked. One of the boys had black hair and he was the one who was in the ground. But what surprised her most was that the other boy who stood there grinning, (obviously taken part in the fight) was the guy that Ichigo saw a few days ago. The one everyone became crazy for. That green haired boy she saw the other day. If Ichigo remembered it correctly his name was Kisshu.

If everyone was so obsessed with him then he should at least be a little bit mature. A first Ichigo had no idea what was going on. It also puzzled her that there was not a single teacher to be seen anywhere and judging by the looks of the crowd, it didn't seem like anyone was going to get a teacher anyway.

"Get up!" Kisshu shouted.

The boy slowly got up; he had bruises all over his face while Kisshu didn't even have a little scratch anywhere. His hands were shaking and so were his legs. He looked ashamed to have done so, but a few tears rolled down his face. His hair was a mess and he had a cut in his left leg, which was why he couldn't stand up straight so he leaned in to his other leg.

"I…I am sorry," he whispered.

Kisshu looked at him and come closer.

"Sorry?" He repeated, almost as if he didn't believe that he actually said it.

There was a moment of silence. It stayed quiet for so long that the whole awkward silence was starting to make Ichigo tense; she didn't know what to do. The best thing to do in this type of situation was to just go and look for a teacher before telling them everything. But there was still no teacher. There were no dinner ladies either, there was just no adult anywhere.

Suddenly Kisshu started laughing. Why he started laughing so suddenly, Ichigo had no idea. But hearing his laughter made everyone else in the crowd laugh too. There were nearly hundreds of people surrounding, each one of them started laughing.

What was the joke exactly? There is a poor boy getting beat up and everyone just starts laughing! What is funny about that? Ichigo was too nervous to laugh. Everything was just starting to become really strange. Ichigo didn't even know if she should start laughing with the crowd or not. But laughing at such a situation felt cruel, so she decided to just watch.

"Please…Forgive me…"

Kisshu stopped laughing.

"I won't do it again. Please…"

"Oh sure, I will," Kisshu said. For a moment Ichigo thought that he actually meant it, but when he started laughing again Ichigo realised he was only being sarcastic.

"But you see, I don't know _how_ to do that," he whispered, "because if there is anything the Great Kisshu Ikisatashi can't do, it's to forgive."

"Don't let him go, Kisshu!" One of the people shouted from the crowd.

"Yeah, finish him off!" someone else shouted.

With that, Kisshu, without wasting another second, he punched the boy in the face. The moment he fell in the floor, Kisshu was just about to throw in another punch when a loud shout interrupted him.

"STOP!" Ichigo screamed, not being able to take any more of this. Kisshu slowly turned around to see who said that and before Ichigo knew it, Kisshu was staring right at her. Everyone else turned to see too and now everyone's eyes were fixed on her. Now, she was the centre of attention.

Ichigo took a deep breath, she had no idea what she was doing, but now that she finally did that, she had to say something. Otherwise she will just look like an idiot in front of everyone else.

"Stop this fight right now!" Ichigo said, as loudly as she could but her voice wasn't as loud as it was before.

"Who the hell are you?" Kisshu asked.

"I…I am…You know what? I should be asking you that question," Ichigo said.

Kisshu just stared at her blankly, he probably had no idea what Ichigo was talking about and neither did Ichigo.

"Who do you think you are? The Great Kisshu Ikisatashi? Oh you are just some rich boy who has never earned money for yourself and now from what I've seen, everyone worships you because they are scared of you!" Ichigo said with disgust.

Everyone gasped.

"Whatever he did, he said sorry! So why don't stop this ridiculous fight before a teacher comes in and both of you get in trouble?"

"Hey, I am Kisshu, which I am sure you already know," he said. Ichigo looked at him confused.

"And nice to meet you even though I have no idea who the hell you are!"

Ichigo looked down for a second, not sure how to reply to that.

"Oh she's that freak that I was telling you about," a familiar voice said.

Ichigo looked up, it was Miyuki. She was standing behind Kisshu and there were two more girls standing next to her.

"Kisshu-kun, she is that girl who was so mean to me the other day," Miyuki said in such an annoying voice that just made Ichigo angrier.

"Do you know who Kisshu is? How dare you talk to him like that?" Miyuki said, this time talking to Ichigo who just stood there, still having no idea why she bothered to get involved in such things.

"He is the richest and smartest boy in the whole school. Everyone fears him and so should you."

"What?"

"How do you have the guts to talk to my Kisshu like that?"

"Miyuki…Just shut up…" Kisshu demanded.

But Miyuki didn't bother listening, "No, Kisshu-kun. That girl cannot talk to you in such manner! She needs to apologise right now!"

"Oh I will apologise," now that Ichigo got involved in this she might just as well try to get herself out of the situation, "Only after you apologise to him," Ichigo pointed at the boy who was involved in the fight too.

Kisshu walked closer to Ichigo. Ichigo took a few steps back, nearly scared of him.

"Move," he said.

"Huh?"

"I said move!" this times Kisshu's was losing his patience.

"No," Ichigo said.

"No one says no to-" But Kisshu was cut off mid-sentence.

"I don't care what other people say to you! You can't just be mean to someone like that! Only because you are rich doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!"

More and more people joined in the crowd, but Ichigo couldn't care less.

"You people have been bullying people all this time! I am not going to just sit here and watch you all do what you do!"

"Does anyone know who this is and can someone please tell her to move because she isn't listening to me," Kisshu said, facing the crowd.

This made the crowd laugh. They were all taking as a joke.

Kisshu, giving up and not being able to stand the whole drama, he started to leave.

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted, "Don't just leave like that!"

Kisshu turned around, annoyed.

Ichigo who was so fed up of everyone laughing at her and Miyuki's glares in the background that she gave up trying to talk or say anything. Clearly, since that was not going to work out because no one was taking her serously or even bothered to listen to her, she did something very unexpected.

She walked up to Kisshu and before she even realised what she was doing, she punched Kisshu right in the face.

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**So...Just letting you all know that I am absolutely horrible at writing fighting scenes...So yeah... I hope you enjoyed reading this! And if you know any ways to improve please let me know!**


	6. An Idea

"Hey Kisshu! Aren't you going to come to eat?" Pai asked.

"I am not hungry," he said sitting down on a chair.

Pai walked over to him, they were both in an empty classroom. Everyone else went outside for break but Kisshu was sitting down in his desk.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Kisshu replied.

"Taruto is probably outside by now."

"So?"

"So why are we still stuck in here?"

"You can go if you want."

"Geez, Kisshu. What is wrong with you today?"

"How dare she do that?" Kisshu growled angrily.

Pai couldn't understand what he was talking about at first but after a while he got why Kisshu was being moody and creating a big scene. So Pai took a chair and sat down next to Kisshu.

"It's that girl isn't it?"

"I am going to get her back."

Pai laughed, remembering the scene in the canteen from a few days ago.

"That was your own fault," Pai shrugged.

"So you are on her side now?"

"You should have been more kind to her."

"Kind? Are you stupid? Did you see what she did to me?"

"Yep, that's what made the whole situation funnier."

"It wasn't funny!" Kisshu shouted in annoyance. He was not in the mood for talking. He was so confused that he didn't know what to do. Usually if someone dared to punch him or even try to touch him they would have no chance of surviving. But things were so unexpected and it all happened so suddenly that he didn't have the chance to do anything else.

They used to have fights like those all the time. It was easy. All they had to do was pick a target and start a fight, the rest of the school would come and watch. It was like a show for them. And teachers were never a big problem to him. His mother was one the richest women in Japan, so all the teachers refused to say anything to him. To show respect or out of fear, Kisshu didn't know.

It was probably because they were scared of him because the other option didn't really make much sense to Kisshu. And something like that never happened before. What's even more annoying, was that Kisshu didn't even know her name. No one seemed to know either. Miyuki refused to talk about her so Kisshu needs to find someone else from her class who knows something about her.

That way, he can plan a revenge. No one ever disrespects any of the Ikisatashi brothers and gets away with it. He will make sure she pays one way or the other. But right now, he couldn't think of anything to do. He couldn't even think straight.

"It is kind of funny though," Pie told him.

"I don't know what to do. And how was it my fault?"

"You should know how to treat girls."

"But she just punched me and then left like nothing happened. She can't do that! No one ever does that!"

"She is a girl, Kisshu. Are you mad because she ended up embarrassing you on public instead of being all over you like all the other girls?"

"You know that's not it. There are way prettier girls than her. Anyway, I have an idea."

"What?"

But Kisshu didn't bother replying. He took his bag and left the room, closing the door behind him.

* * *

**Just a super short chapter for you all. It's just to give a little background information about Kisshu. **


	7. A Small Note

"Why did you do that? Are you crazy?"

"But he was being so mean! What was I meant to do? I couldn't just stand there and watch!"

"That's exactly what you should have done!"

"It can't be that bad, it's over now, besides it was the right thing to do, I know it is," Ichigo protested.

"It's not over, Ichigo," Lettuce sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Now they will take revenge and you will be in big trouble. You shouldn't even have talked to him! Let alone punch him!"

Ichigo groaned. She still didn't understand what she did wrong. There was an idiot bullying an innocent guy and everyone else was just watching the whole thing. She taught a lesson to Kisshu and he rightly deserved it. She had hardly met him and she didn't expect him to be such a bully. And what was even more annoying was that everyone else seemed to be in his side. Instead of stopping him from doing these things, everyone else was just encouraging him to do more of it instead! What type of school was this?

"I know what they are doing is wrong and I know why you want to help but it's not going to work," Lettuce tried to explain.

"But if everyone is so scared of them and no one stands up to them they will keep doing this! They will never stop," Ichigo said in annoyance, "Can't you just tell me why everyone is so scared of them that they won't even talk about them!"

Lettuce sighed, "Fine."

Lettuce took Ichigo's hand and she took her to her locker where there was no one listening.

"You know that lots of people apply for this school, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you know that even the best of students don't get a chance to come here, right?"

"Right."

"So I am sure you know that we are really lucky to be here?"

"Yes. But what's that got to do with anything?" Ichigo asked.

"Just stop asking questions and let me tell you everything first."

All Ichigo could do was nod. Lettuce wasn't usually the type to give out demands to people so the fact that she was being so strict all of a sudden surprised her.

"So not only you need to have excellent grades but you need enough money to be able to come to this school. And I suppose if you work hard it does become worth it and education wise this school is better than most schools."

Lettuce paused for a moment. Ichigo kept listening.

"So you can say it's a great school but most people who come here come are from rich families unlike you and me. And in a way that's not great..."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, some people are only here because they had enough money to come here and hardly anyone worked hard. Some people don't care about studying because money sorts everything out for them. It sorts out their future. And what's more annoying is that they are all so selfish that they all look down on other people."

"Other people? Like...You mean us?"

Lettuce gave a slow nod.

"The richest people in this school are the three Ikisatashi brothers: Kisshu, Pai and Taruto."

"Yeah, that's why everyone is obsessed with them."

"Right. The headteacher and their parents are really good friends and no matter how badly their results are they still going to be allowed to come to this school and God knows how much money their parents paid so they could come here."

"So basically it was money that bought them here."

"Yep, and what's even more annoying is that they are actually smarter than most people that come here so it can be argued that they deserve to be in this school. But if it wasn't for money they would have needed to pass a quiet a lot of exams to prove they were good enough."

"Why don't you tell the teachers?"

The best someone could do in this type of situation in obviously to just tell a teacher if anyone is getting bullied.

"Like that's really going to work. Think about it, the teachers aren't going to do anything because they are too scared and they too are obsessed with the Ikisatashi brothers. It's absolute favouritism. Besides who would even have the courage to tell a teacher?"

Ichigo stayed quiet for a while. She just couldn't find a way of replying. Everything finally made sense but it was so...Unfair. Life itself was unfair but was it really right for someone to be treated differently just because they were wealthy? Only because some people were not as wealthy when it comes to money, doesn't mean that they are not normal human beings. So how is it fair to treat people and ranking them by the amount of money they have?

"Now that you have gotten yourself into a fight with them, how do you plan to get out of it?"

"Ok, Ok...I get your point but answer me one more question."

Lettuce sighed, "Go on."

"Who is Miyuki? The girl that is always stuck with Kisshu."

"You know how many fangirls they have. Miyuki is just one of them. People like Minako and Misaki will follow her around like a puppy dog no matter how mean she is to them. They are all a bunch of attention seekers who would do anything to get popularity so it's best that you just listen to them and stay away from them. Don't try to get involved with them too much."

"Is she Kisshu's girlfriend or something?"

"Yes. That's why it's best to stay away from both of them."

"I don't like her," Ichigo told Lettuce. She saw the way Miyuki was talking to Lettuce once in the canteen. She did not like her and had a feeling that she was up to no good ever since.

"If someone else that's richer than Kisshu comes up, she will probably jump onto him instead. These are the types of things people do here."

"What? to gain popularity?"

"Popularity, so-called friends, money, respect...Everything. It's ridiculous."

"Ok let's just talk about something else," Ichigo sighed.

"Let's get our stuff from lockers," Lettuce said with a reassuring smile. Right at that moment, Ichigo felt a whole lot better.

Lettuce opened her locker and took out her bag before closing it back again. Ichigo did the same thing. She opened her locker and took her books out that she will be needing in her next lesson. As she did so, a small note fell from her locker to the floor. Ichigo looked at it confused. It was a small bit of paper which she did not remember putting it in.

"What's that?" Lettuce asked.

"I don't know," Ichigo said with a shrug as she picked it up.

"Open it."

Ichigo opened unfolded the paper and read it. She stared at it for a while, getting even more confused.

"What does it say?" Lettuce asked. Ichigo didn't say a word. Instead, she handed the piece of paper to Lettuce as a response. Lettuce took the paper and read it for herself. Her eyes widened and she too was confused. In small, neat letters, it said:

_'Be aware. _

_We are coming to get you.'_


	8. Tears

Ichigo sat down in her desk, wondering who could have sent her that note. It was pretty obvious that it would be either one of the Ikisatashi brothers, Miyuki or some other fan girl of Kisshu's who now has something against her. But the person who sent her the note didn't seem to be bothering her much. It was what they were now going to do with her that was bothering her. She wouldn't really have cared but if people could really be so mean to someone who didn't do anything…Then what would they really do to someone who just punched the most popular guy in the school?

So far all that's happened was a few people gave her some death glares and she is the main gossip in the school. Nothing else. She doesn't care if people were talking about her and she could easily ignore death glares from people so it's all fine. Now there was that note…

"Ouch!" Ichigo stood up when she felt some wrapped paper hit her head.

She could hear everyone giggling at the sight but Ichigo just stared at everyone half with anger and half with embarrassment. But it wasn't working because everyone just laughed some more. The only person that probably wasn't laughing was Lettuce and she was sitting at the back of the classroom so she could hardly see her because when she turned around to look she was immediately told to sit back down by her teacher.

After class, Ichigo went to eat lunch with Lettuce like she usually did. She got her lunch bag and her bag filled with books from the last lesson and so was on her way to her locker to put that away first.

"Going to lunch are you?" A girl asked from behind.

Ichigo groaned in annoyance. That was obviously Miyuki.

"What do you want?"

"Hey that's no way of talking to someone is it?" She said with a grin, "Especially from such a low-life like you."

"Low-life? Who are you calling a low-life?!" Ichigo hissed in anger but stopped the insults and decided to save them for later. Right now, she desperately needed to go to lunch and she was too hungry to do anything.

"Let me just tell you this. You have no idea what's ahead of you so I suggest you be careful."

"Yeah right," Ichigo muttered under her breath. She didn't bother listening to Miyuki and headed to the canteen. Lettuce was probably waiting for her.

When she came in, everyone in the canteen became so quiet that it there was no rush of chatter that Ichigo usually hears every time she enters a canteen. She forced herself not to mind too much and just sat down where she usually sat. She started taking out her food and began to eat. But soon her appetite wasn't there anymore and she didn't feel like eating. Everyone was staring at her. Things were becoming awkward.

Ichigo took a deep breath and she was just about to put her food away and leave before she heard loud footsteps reaching the canteen.

"Where are you going? The show hasn't even started yet," Kisshu said with a grin. Miyuki was walking next to him and she too had a grin in her face.

Ichigo looked at both of them, confused.

"Wha…?"

Kisshu took her lunch box and violently threw it in the ground.

"Who do you think you are?" He said in a low voice.

Ichigo was so shocked that she didn't even know what to say.

Miyuki pulled Ichigo's hair and pulled her up.

"Let me go!" Ichigo glared at her.

"What I don't understand is how you managed to come to this school," Kisshu said. His eyes were cold and were fixed on Ichigo. Something about his eyes made Ichigo feel uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that Ichigo couldn't even meet his eyes.

"Your mother works in a shop and your dad does night shifts."

Ichigo gasped and looked at Kisshu in horror.

"You are trying to live a life like us but you see…A shopkeeper's daughter stays a shopkeeper's daughter."

Tears filled Ichigo's eyes, "Don't you dare insult my parents."

"Insult your parents?" Kisshu asked with a laugh, "I am not insulting your parents. I am just saying that this is not the place for you. Go back to your old school. Tell your parents to not work so hard because your money is just going to go to waste here. I am saying this for your own good. Get out of here because you don't belong in here."

"What are you?" Ichigo still couldn't stop tears streaming down her face. It was true. Her parents worked hard and so did she to come to this school. She couldn't stand her parents made fun of. They were being made fun of all their hard work. It wasn't fair.

"Why are you crying," Kisshu said with a smirk, "You can't even stand this much. This is just the beginning; the real thing hasn't even started yet."

"Why don't you just get out of here?" Miyuki added, obviously enjoying the whole thing.

"But at least you've learnt one thing before you leave," Kisshu said, "This is what happens when you mess up with Kisshu," Kisshu said with a wink.

Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. She quickly picked up her lunch bag and ran out of the canteen, wiping her tears away.

* * *

**I know that was really short...I am sorry about that...But I had to get this chapter done and I know I've written better chapters than this but this was the best I could do for today. Please keep reading and you all know that I adore reviews so thank you so much if you have reviewed! I will write the next chapter as soon as I can and eventually, I promise you guys that Kisshu will stop being such an idiot to Ichigo. Thanks! :) **


	9. Revenge

"Can I tell you something?" Pai asked.

"What?" Kisshu asked almost in a rude way. He was sitting down in his desk and Pai was sitting down next to him.

"Who is that girl?"

"What girl?"

"The one that you are thinking of right now."

"I am not thinking of her! I am...Damn it!"

All the memories from yesterday filled Kisshu's mind. He hardly ever went to classes and when he did it would be empty so he could have a quiet time to himself. Sometimes Pai and Taruto would be with him. But he preferred to be alone. It would give him time to think of everything. And right now, all he could think of was the drama from yesterday.

Kisshu remembered the way she cried. The way she shouted at him and the way she eventually gave up and left the canteen. Half the time it seemed amusing and Kisshu couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun. But in the end there was a feeling of guilt. Something that Kisshu never really felt before. It almost felt like he went a little too far.

"Ichigo," Kisshu replied, "Her name's Ichigo."

"Oh you remember her name. How nice," Pai chuckled, "So what exactly are you thinking of doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what are you going to do next? Shouldn't you just leave it?"

"Leave what for God's sake?"

"I don't think you should have insulted her parents like that. She has probably worked so hard and you are now telling her to leave the school. It's pretty stupid if you think about it."

"It's what happens when anyone dares to insult us. It's how things worked for years, what are you talking about?"

Pai laughed, "There's something about her that I find fascinating."

"What? That she had the guts to insult me in front of everyone?"

"Well, that's part of it, but there is something else. And besides, you were spending a lot of time involving yourself in too many fights."

"I've always been on fights and you never said anything but when Ichigo pops up you seem so interested!"

"It's because she is a girl, Kisshu. You never involved yourself with girls before, not the way you're doing it now anyway."

"I was getting involved? She was the one who punched me in the face in front if everyone and now it's my fault, is it?" Kisshu was getting more and more annoyed every minute. He desperately needed Pai to be quiet or he won't be able to control his anger. He was already depressed and now Pai was just getting himself confused over stupid things that hardly made any sense.

"What is with you and that girl? Do you have a crush on her or something?"

Pai became quiet at that. He calmly looked at Kisshu for a moment and observed him. He knew Kisshu since he was little, there was no one who knew Kisshu better than Pai did. Sometimes, Kisshu's behaviour was so ridiculous that it sometimes made him think that he knew Kisshu better than Kisshu knew himself!

"No," Pai answered, "I don't have a crush on her and I don't have any feelings for her."

Pai stood up and tucked his chair under the table.

"But I think you do," Pai said before he left the classroom.

Ichigo was staring at the clock wishing for time to go by a little faster. Every minute felt like an hour and for some reason it just felt like time has stopped. Things just didn't seem so exciting anymore. She remembered the time when she received a letter saying that she passed the entrance exams for this school and at that time she could hardly believe that she was going to come here. But now she didn't have that enthusiasm that she had when she first came here. Nearly everything's changed. Her mind and her views of things changed and now she felt all lost and alone.

She finally understood how Lettuce felt. She wished that she had listened to her a bit more. She was constantly being picked on at class and she could hardly face people outside lessons. She couldn't handle all this anymore.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the buzzer rang. Ichigo quickly packed all her stuff away and she left the room the second the teacher dismissed them.

_"Where is Lettuce anyway?"_ Ichigo thought, as she walked along the corridors.

There were a few people walking by and a couple of teachers chatting to each other in the classrooms. But the further she walked, the more quieter it became and soon, she realised that there was no one there apart from her.

Ichigo sighed, she turned around and decided to go outside. She will talk to Lettuce some other time. But before she could take another step she heard a loud scream. Ichigo turned back around and wondered where it was coming from. There was no one in the corridors so it was probably coming from one of the empty rooms ahead. As she followed the noise she came inside a room and gasped.

Lettuce was there and a few other girls were crowding around her.

"What on Earth is going here?!" Ichigo shouted. She quickly ran over to Lettuce and to see if she was alright. She was sitting down in the floor and her books were all over the place. Lettuce was trying hard not to cry but still, a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What's happened? What are you doing?"

"Did you really think it would end here?" Kisshu shouted from the back. All Ichigo could do was stare at him.

"Please tell them to stop."

"Why should I?" Kisshu walked over to her.

Ichigo looked at Lettuce and then looked back at Kisshu, "Listen, I...I will leave if you want me to."

"What?"

"I will leave the school, just like you said and I will never bother you again," Ichigo said quietly, the words were painful and she couldn't believe she was saying them, "I am very sorry for everything that's happened and from tomorrow I will stop coming to this school but just please leave Lettuce alone."

There was an awkward silence after that. No one said a word. Kisshu was just looking at her and the girls behind her were grinning.

"Please stop picking on Lettuce, she didn't do anything so please don't hurt her. I...It is me who you are angry with so let out your anger on me."

Ichigo picked up Lettuce's books and put them in her bag which was also on the floor.

"I hope you have a nice day," Ichigo added before she left the room with Lettuce.

Lettuce and Ichigo didn't say anything to each other after that. The buzzer rang ages ago so they walked their own way home.

"Wait!" Ichigo heard someone shout as she walked alone. It was Kisshu.

"What do you want?" Ichigo said looking away.

"What the hell was that about?" Kisshu asked when he caught up.

"What?"

"You are leaving? I thought you would fight a little more but you just gave up so easily. I guess you all are the same."

"What's that supposed to mean? I am making your life easier and leaving like you said, what else did you want me to do?"

"You can't leave yet because I haven't finished taking my revenge."

Ichigo rolled her eyes and kept walking. There was no point in wasting time by talking to him, she would've been home by now if he wasn't there. But Kisshu held Ichigo's arm and pulled her to him. He smiled at Ichigo's shocked expression in her face and before she could pull away or do anything else, he placed his lips on her's and gave her a kiss.

* * *

**There we go! Another boring chapter for you all! Not really sure where this is going but I will keep writing and hope for the best. Thank you for reading!**


	10. Some Rules

Ichigo slowly walked to school, thinking everything through and trying to make sense of everything that's happened. Why do the most awkward of things always happen to her? She could hardly understand why they were picking on Lettuce and now she has to try and figure out what that whole kiss things was about. She was just walking home and she even apologised to the most idiotic boy in school even though Ichigo didn't think she did anything wrong and that was how she was repaid? The thought made her angrier and she was starting to wish she didn't bother apologising.

But she had to say something for Lettuce's sake. She had to find a way of getting Lettuce out of this. If they were going to bully anyone, she would rather they all bully her instead of someone who had nothing to do all of this. And now because of Kisshu, she couldn't even face him at school without having that awkward silence between them. And not only that but what if she ends up making new enemies because of what happened? What if they all find out what happened? What will she say to Lettuce?

This was not fair.

Ichigo kept waking not bothering to look at her watch and check what the time was. She went through all that trouble to wake up extra early that day so she could have a daydream around as she walked. It would help her think everything through. Once she was at school, it would be hard to think with all the lessons and if any teachers catch her daydream again, she will end up in detention. She was given enough warnings and if she keeps getting in trouble it would be a phone call home; She didn't want her parents to think she wasn't working at school.

Ichigo opened her bag and took out a bottle of water, she hardly ate her breakfast because she was too lazy to have anything. And now she was hungry and thirsty at the same time. The only thing she could do now was to wait until lunch at school so she might as well kill her thirst now.

Ichigo stopped walking for a moment so she could have a drink. The moment she put her bottle away, she felt someone hold her arm and turned her around. Ichigo was shocked for a second quickly put her hand away as she turned to see who it was.

"What's up," Kisshu asked with a smirk.

Ichigo was so confused to see him there that she didn't know what to say. For a moment she felt annoyed because of his sudden approach but then she remembered his kiss from yesterday when she was leaving school, now there was anger and hatred along with irritation. What was he doing here? Ichigo was having such a nice time having a walk around but because life hates her so much they had to send an idiot down her path so now she can't even think straight let alone walk straight.

"What do you want?!" Ichigo asked in frustration and tried to sound as menacing as possible.

"Mind if I walk to school with you?"

"Actually yes."

"That's great! Let's walk on then," Kisshu said with a smirk and started walking.

"Go and walk with someone else and leave me alone!" Ichigo demanded.

But Kisshu didn't seem to be listening at all. He kept walking and he just winked at Ichigo. Instead, he decided to ignore Ichigo's question and start his own conversation.

"You can stay in this school and we will not bother you."

"That's great, very nice to know that you've finally gotten bored of me so can you please leave?"

"First of all, there are certain rules that you need to follow first," Kisshu said, "And who said I had gotten bored of you?"

Ichigo groaned. It looked like Kisshu wasn't going to leave no matter how much she told him to do so. So all she could do was go to school as fast as she could and join as little in the conversation as she could.

"What rules?" Ichigo asked, annoyed.

"You are to never repeat the situation again where you ended up insulting me in the canteen."

"I know that! I even apologised!" Ichigo exclaimed, "Even though you kinda deserved it..." Ichigo muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Kisshu looked at Ichigo for a moment. His eyes were not in the form of those cold, hard stares but they were now more kind and he looked at Ichigo in an understanding but awkward looking way. Ichigo didn't know what to do so she would either look away or stare at the ground while she walked.

"You like me!" Kisshu grinned.

"What?!" Ichigo asked raising an eyebrow.

"I know you do."

"What the hell are you talking about? I am nowhere near to liking you! Not even a little bit!"

"You say one thing and do the other so if you are saying you hate me then it means you like me."

Ichigo couldn't take any of this any longer. Not only did this big pervert kiss him the other day but now he was talking rubbish. So either there was something mentally wrong with him or he was just plain stupid. He insulted her parents in front of everyone, he hurt her best friend, he kissed her - bearing in mind that was her first kiss which she never imagined to have had it with someone like him, he started randomly walking with her when she didn't want him to and he even told her to leave the school just because she tried to stop a fight. Who did he think he was?

"Listen and let me make something very clear," Ichigo said as slowly as she could like she was about to teach something very important to a five-year-old, "I have no feelings for you and I am very sorry to say but I do not even like you as a human being let alone a friend or something more therefore I do NOT like you so please leave me alone because I am not in the mood for you stupid games!"

"How can you not like someone like me? I am good-looking, smart, strong and I am rich. What more can you want?"

"Oh please!" Ichigo couldn't believe someone could be that stupid, "For starters, your good-looks might get every girl in the school fall for you but not me. Your physical strength won't get you anywhere if you want to have anything to do with me and also, just because you are rich doesn't mean that I will fall for you. And plus, who said you were smart? Just because you are cleverer than most people at school doesn't make you smart because you hardly ever go to classes and you never work hard. I would rather date someone who is 'dumb' but works hard and tries his best." Ichigo took a deep breath.

"Ok, so in that case, nothing will please you, will it?"

"What are you talking about? You don't have the basic qualities that I look in a guy!"

Kisshu thought for a moment, "Ok, so what is your type?"

"Like I am ever telling you!"

"It's okay if you don't tell me, I will just bug you at school the whole day," Kisshu grinned.

Ichigo sighed, "He would need to be kind and understanding, he would need to show respect to everyone, he needs to be sweet, hard-working, caring and loving. Obviously, if he is all of that then it's likely that he's smart and good-looking too," Ichigo said almost daydreaming for the perfect boy.

"Oh and while we're at it, I hate show-offs and bullies," Ichigo said, coming back to reality, "Which, in case you haven't figured out, completely cancels out you."

"I see. But then there is an issue," Kisshu said.

"What?"

"There is another rule if you don't want to leave the school."

"What?"

"You will need to date me," Kisshu whispered with a smirk.

* * *

**That was the next chapter! Hope you all enjoyed, I will update tomorrow.**


	11. Sorry

"WHAT?!"

"It's your choice," Kisshu said with a shrug.

"What is your problem? Seriously!"

"So what do you say?"

"You already know what I am going to say! You're the most stupid person I have ever met and so the only place I would probably ever date you is in your dreams!"

Ichigo had enough of the whole rubbish going on and so she just gave up and kept walking as far away as she could from Kisshu. Kisshu being his usual self didn't let her and held her arm tightly instead. He was not quite done yet.

"That won't do," Kisshu said.

Ichigo just looked down, not bothering to look him in the eye, "You can't force someone to love you," She whispered.

"And besides why would you like me?" She asked, "I don't even belong to your school, isn't that what you said?"

Kisshu looked at her for a moment, remembering what he said to her the other day. He took one look in her eyes and the hurtful expression from her face made him wish he didn't say those things to her. But it felt weird. At that time, it felt like the right thing to do. Well, maybe not the _right _thing but that's what Kisshu would have done if anyone else ever said anything to him. So why was he feeling guilty when he hurt Ichigo? Why was he feeling guilty now but not when she was crying in the canteen that day?

"What was that you said again?" Ichigo said, before she even knew it a tears formed in her eyes, "A shopkeeper's daughter always stays a shopkeeper's daughter, right? Compared to you I am nothing really. You are so rich and you have everything we could've ever asked for. I am not good enough for you."

The last words struck him. He didn't even realise how much he hurt her. He felt so stupid, he didn't even know what to do at that moment. He slowly let her hand go.

Ichigo slowly pushed him away and started walking, "Please don't talk to me again, I don't think I will be able to take this anymore. And good luck getting a girlfriend." She said before she started walking again.

Kisshu just watched her walking away.

"I told you not to do that," Pai told him. He didn't show any sort of emotion, he just held his book and a cup of hot chocolate in his other hand. He sat down in his sofa and was acting like nothing was wrong. Maybe there was a slight bit of amusement in him, as he listened to Kisshu's story but he was definitely not feeling sorry for him at all. In fact, he just looked at Kisshu in one of his I-told-you-so looks and went back to reading. He knew something like that was going to happen anyway and it was Kisshu's fault for not listening to him.

"You're not helping," Kisshu sighed.

"What did you think? That if you told her to date you she would say yes and get all over you straightaway?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Kisshu said, standing up and getting ready to leave.

"Look at that. Your first crush and you already messed it up," Pai chuckled.

"I wonder why you are finding it so amusing," Kisshu said sitting back down, "You're acting like you know everything about girls."

"I don't know anything about girls," Pai told him, "But if you want anyone getting closer to you then insulting them in front of the whole school won't make them like you unless of course some sort of what you call miracle occurs. It's common sense really. I expected you to be this smart but it looks like you are more stupid than I thought you are."

"This is why I hate coming to you for advice, half the time you give no advice at all but lectures instead. I already feel bad enough for everything, ok?"

"Feeling bad for your idiocy will not make things any better. You need to do something about it."

"I already tried," Kisshu muttered.

"Tried what? You did nothing! You just made things worse," Pai said not taking his eye off his book.

"I could try and apologise..."

"Well that's a start, but you would need something more than that."

"I will think up of something later. Anything else Mr Know-it-all has to say?"

"During these types of situations there is only one advice someone can give you."

"What is it?"

"Just don't mess it up."

Kisshu sighed, "Great advice, thanks." Kisshu said in a sarcastic voice and then left the room. Pai still didn't look at him once and kept reading his book.

The next day, Kisshu waked to school again. He saw Ichigo walking with Lettuce at the other side of the road and smiled. This time, he decided to walk by himself and watch Ichigo instead. It was better that way. And also, if he did go up to her, she would probably get mad at him like last time. He will talk to her at school.

"Oh Kisshu Ikisatashi, you decided to come to school today," His class teacher said with a smile and a surprised way, "Please go and have a seat," she said pointing at the desk he was going to sit.

A few girls from the front looked at each other in disappointment when their teacher didn't put him next to them. Instead he sat down next to a few boys in the class, just behind Ichigo and Lettuce. Ichigo didn't bother looking at him and quietly talked to Lettuce instead.

Ichigo opened her book which was in her desk when the teacher told everyone to do so. But when she opened a small note came out.

"Another note," Ichigo whispered.

She slowly opened it, nearly scared to see what was written there. But to Ichigo's surprise it said nothing there apart from a single word neatly written in the middle. It said 'Sorry'. Ichigo looked at it for a moment and wondered who it was. She then slowly turned around to see Kisshu but he didn't seem to notice that she was looking. He was too busy writing in his book.

_"No, it can't be,"_ Ichigo told herself. It was probably by coincidence she was sure it was not meant for her.

But Ichigo was put in doubt again. As the buzzer rang and like usual, she went to her locker, she found another note placed in there. She opened it and again, it was written with exactly the same handwriting as before and just like the last note it said 'Sorry'. Ichigo was getting more and more confused as the notes came up. She still didn't know who they were from. Who would want to apologise to her?

Soon she left the note and decided to stop worrying about it. It was probably a trick, knowing people in this school. And plus, it didn't make sense. So it must have been a mistake of some sort. Maybe someone put it in the wrong locker and ended up putting it in her locker instead.

Ichigo walked in the corridors and she saw some people staring at the notice board. Ichigo then realised what was going on. In the walls, it was written 'Sorry' in big letters. Everyone laughed and wondered where it came from. Ichigo decided to ignore it too.

Lettuce and Ichigo sat decided to get a a glass of water from the canteen. The dinner lady smiled at the two girls and gave them their order.

"Come on start eating," Lettuce said.

As Ichigo was drinking her water, she spotted something in the corner of her eye. At the back of the cup in black ink, it said 'Sorry'. Again, 'sorry'. The same word that Ichigo was coming across since morning.

"Lettuce."

"Yes?"

"Is something written on your cup?" Ichigo asked.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Not even at the back, somewhere?"

"There's nothing written here. Why?"

"Oh. Nothing, never mind."

Ichigo quickly drank the water and threw the cup away before anyone could see it.

The next lesson, Ichigo sat in her usual seat, and in her table small letters were craved in it in the corner. Ichigo looked a little closely and soon realised it said 'Sorry'. Ichigo gave a sigh. It was happening too many times now. She needed to find out who it was that was sending her these messages. It didn't say anything. It didn't say their name. Just the same word. Sorry.

Ichigo walked home that day. Lettuce was in the library working, Ichigo was too tired of working otherwise she would have joined her. So she just quietly walked.

"Ichigo!" A voice shouted from behind her.

Ichigo turned around and groaned.

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked.

"Nothing," Kisshu replied.

"I told you not to talk to me."

"I know, so I want to show you something instead."

"What?"

"Come with me," Kisshu said.

"Go away. I am not going anywhere with you."

"Please?" Kisshu asked.

"No."

"I said please."

Ichigo turned away and kept walking. Kisshu didn't say a single word. After a while Ichigo sighed and eventually gave in.

"Fine, what is it?"

Kisshu grinned and led her to a different direction. Ichigo had no idea where he was planning to take her but knowing him, it was probably something to annoy her. Yet still, her curiosity got the best of her.

As they walked, Ichigo saw a beautiful garden filled with flowers. Ichigo smiled a little. But soon gasped when she realised what it really was that Kisshu wanted to show her. There lots of beautiful flowers of all colours. And all of them were planted in a certain pattern. They were planted so it read a message. The exact same message. The exact five-letter word: Sorry.

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**Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading and please review!**


	12. Change Of Character

The teacher sat down in her desk and looked at the names for the register. She waited until the late buzzer rang and started reading them all out. Each time the student would put their hand up and let the teacher know that they were present.

"Miyuki."

"Here, miss," Miyuki put her hand up.

"Lettuce."

"Here, miss," Lettuce did the same.

"Ichigo."

"Here, miss."

And so this went on for a while. The teacher sighed as she reached the last name in the list.

"Kisshu."

There was no answer.

"Kisshu Ikisatashi," she repeated.

But still there was no answer. The teacher, didn't look as surprised. Kisshu hardly seemed to be here, she didn't understand why he bothered to be put into school if he was hardly present. The matter was starting to get annoying yet she couldn't say a thing. Without getting into trouble, of course.

"…Who is marked absent. Again."

"Not today," A voice said soon after when the door opened.

Everyone looked surprised, including the teacher. Kisshu was standing next to the door. After that, everything – apart from his entrance – was formal. He bowed down to the teacher and apologised for coming late. He then went to his seat and sat down.

"Well," The teacher said, looking at the register, "We have full house today. Excellent! Now everyone please stand up and get ready to go to assembly. The school headteacher has an important notice to say."

The announcement was followed by a groan from the rest of the class. Another boring assembly. Another Monday morning. Another 'important' lecture. So in other words: Another typical school day. Everyone stood in a line and started going out to make their way to the main hall, supervised by their teacher who was walking behind them to make sure there was no talking.

"Kisshu! You came to school for register today!" Miyuki said excitedly.

Kisshu gave her a smile and but didn't say anything. A few other girls in front of him were looking at him excitedly too, he gave them a smile too and they started going more at the back of the line. His attention turned to somewhere else as he was passing a group of people and saw Ichigo walking right behind them.

Ichigo looked away and kept walking. She didn't want to get in trouble for talking.

"What's up?" Kisshu whispered.

"What do you want now?" Ichigo said as quietly as she could.

"Oh come on, you are not still angry at me are you?"

"I am not angry."

Kisshu kept walking behind her. He didn't say anything else and just smiled. He had to be careful of what he said. A single wrong word could completely ruin that little moment.

"Alright," That's all he said to her.

And then miraculously, Ichigo somehow smiled too. Kisshu could hardly believe it but he kept walking and played it all cool.

Everyone sat down in the seats. Students from different classes all made their way through and soon the empty seats in the hall filled up. The teacher signalled everyone to be quiet and started to talk.

"Good morning students of Sora Academy. Today in this assembly I am going start by welcoming you all in the next new year of this school and the first assembly of the year. I hope you all make a great start. This year is an important year, we have exams coming up so you need to work hard. But as you know it's not all work, be sure to participate in our school competitions and other school events that are coming up soon. But today I am going to talk to you about more important issues in our school…"

"How long is this going to go on for?" Ichigo asked.

"Quite a while," Kisshu said with a grin.

"How long is 'quite a while?"

"Oh I don't remember the last time I attended a school assembly so I don't know."

"Right. Great help, thanks,"Ichigo rolled her eyes and sighed.

"So when did you come to this school?"

"Three weeks ago."

"Welcome to the school then."

"Since when did you start being nice to me?" Ichigo said suspiciously.

"I said sorry…"

"Yeah, and that's going to change everything."

"I sense sarcasm."

"You seem to be really stupid, what do you want from me?"

"Nothing."

Ichigo gave a long sigh, "Yeah…Why don't you answer my question because I really don't want to get caught talking in assembly."

"You won't understand. I'll explain it to you later," Kisshu said with a wink.

"…And yes there is of course the school dance competition which is being held in a few months time. You will be asked to dance with someone and we will choose the winners…"

"Oh yeah, the school dance competition, wanna join?"

"What? No!"

"…And that is all for now. Be sure to revise for all your exams and complete all homework to the best of standard. Thank you."

"Hey, why not?"

"I don't dance…Just be quiet. I don't want to get in trouble."

Soon everyone stood up and started heading their way to their classrooms. There was a sigh of relief from everyone when the assembly was over. Personally, Ichigo didn't understand why she was getting annoyed. Whether it was the fact that she wasn't bothered to go to assembly that day or it was the fact that she was sitting next one of the most annoying people in school was still quiet unknown to her. But at least he was being just a little nice to her. So Ichigo decided to not say anything.

That lunch Ichigo was sitting in the lunch table alone. She was just thinking and quietly talking to herself; after all she was bored and had nothing else better to do. But a cheerful voice called to her all of sudden. Ichigo turned around to see who it was.

A little girl, shorter than her with blond and shining brown eyes was looking at her. She was smiling and holding a lunchbox.

"Hello! I noticed you were sitting alone. So if you don't mind, can I sit with you na-no-da?"

"Er…Sure! Why not?" Ichigo said after just a second of hesitation. She hardly knew the girl and she was so used to people glaring at her the moment she passed them, that someone coming up to her and willing to sit next to her came to her as a surprise.

The girl smiled and sat down, "My name is Pudding na-no-da, what's yours?"

"Ichigo. Momomiya Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you Ichigo."

And after a while, Ichigo realised at how sweet she was They both talked for a while and she loved how well they were getting along. Ichigo smiled at the thought: She just made a new friend.

The school corridors seemed to be very confusing at times, Sometimes it's filled with people walking by and sometimes there is hardly anyone walking by. Ichigo would find herself walking in the corridors and in the end wondering why she had nothing else better to do. It was one of those days where the corridors seemed to be unusually silent. And Ichigo was enjoying the quietness too. Until of course, an idiot decided to pass by.

"Are you still angry with me?"

"What do you want Kisshu?"

"I am sorry. I said sorry, what else do you want me to do?"

Ichigo smiled for a moment, "It's fine."

Kisshu's eyes widened with surprise and excitement at the same time.

"It's fine? Really?"

"Really."

"So you aren't angry at me?"

"No."

"This is great!"

"Yeah…Kisshu, you about your weird rules from before…I don't-"

"Yeah I know. You have no feelings for me."

Ichigo was surprised how he was acting so differently from before. He looked much more kind and he looked more…Friendly. Compared to the first time she saw him anyway.

"But that's okay. I will change for you," Kisshu said, "I will win your heart one day. You will see," Kisshu gave her a wink before he left.

Ichigo blinked a few times, trying to get over her confusion. She wondered why her heart skipped a beat when he gave her a wink. She can't really understand. He seemed such a jerk before but now his eyes were just more than innocent and his smile had a friendlier side. All of this just started sounding too corny so Ichigo decided to keep walking.

_"Well…Now that I think about it, he is actually pretty sweet…Still kind of stupid but sweet…"_

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**Sorry for the long wait. I decided to take a little break from fanfiction, that's why stopped updating for a while. I really appreciate all of those reviews, especially when I am being such an idiot who hardly every updates anything. So thanks loads and loads for reading! :)**


	13. Birthday Party Invitation

The next morning Ichigo was surprised to see a few girls standing next to her seat. Ichigo walked up to them, wondering why they were there.

"Um…That's my seat," She said.

One of the girls gave her a smile. Ichigo smiled back but she still didn't understand what was going on. Before they could talk Miyuki came in.

"Ichigo! Finally, you're here!" She said excitedly.

Before Ichigo could react Miyuki gave her a quick hug. Now everything became confusing. Ichigo had no idea what she did but for some reason Miyuki was being nice to her. In the past few days Miyuki was being unbelievably rude to her. Ichigo just couldn't understand what her problem was but today she was acting like they were the best of friends.

Nope. Ichigo just didn't buy it. Something was wrong.

"Okay…Hi…"

"Ichigo, I would just like to apologise to you because of the other day. I am so sorry, I just don't what had gotten into me," Miyuki said smiling the whole time.

"And I really want us to get to know each other better and hopefully become friends. I mean…It's fine if you don't want to but just because we aren't friends doesn't mean we should stay enemies, right?"

"Er…Right…"

"So I was wondering if you would like to come to my birthday party tomorrow. I will introduce you to all of my friends and it will give us a chance to become friends too. You are coming, right?"

Ichigo didn't know what to say. Everything was just so random. Even though she was really happy that Miyuki was finally being nice to her, something about her voice and the way she spoke annoyed Ichigo for some reason. It felt weird. Ichigo always thought her as one of those cocky and self-centred people and the fact that she started being nice to her overnight, just seemed unusual.

"Sure. Why not?" Ichigo said with a smile.

"You are coming? Really? Great! I can't tell you how happy I am!" Miyuki handed her a piece of card, "This is where we all meet and it says what time you should come. I can't wait!"

Miyuki gave Ichigo another hug and then left the room. The rest of the girls followed her. Finally, Ichigo sat down. She stared at the little piece of paper, she still didn't have a clue what was going on.

But before Ichigo could think about it anymore her teacher came in the classroom.

"Good morning students! I have got the latest school clubs and competitions list. If you would like to join any competitions or take part in any clubs you are more than welcome to do so but make sure you write your name in the sheets and your class and when you are done give me back the sheets. You many now collect them from the front table and we will get on with the lesson as soon as we are done."

Ichigo soon found herself flicking through the papers, trying to look for something interesting. When she finally gave up she closed the booklet and left it at the table.

"So you aren't joining any?" Someone asked.

A girl with sat in her seat, she had blue hair the booklet in her hand. Although she seemed to be talking to Ichigo, she didn't even look at her as her eyes were fixed in the paper.

"Um…Are you talking to me?" Ichigo asked looking at the girl. She wasn't sure how to reply.

"Of course I am talking to you," She finally stopped looking at the paper and looked at Ichigo. She had a smile on her face but one that made Ichigo feel slightly uncomfortable.

"I haven't really decided yet. I don't think I will be joining any," Ichigo said.

The girl gave a small laugh, "Are you sure? You know there are lots of things to get in. There's the school's art competition, dance, singing…Although unlucky for you, I don't think there's anything for being the biggest loser."

Ichigo was unsure what to say for a while.

"And what exactly are you implying?"

"Nothing, really."

"Well if you think you are so good, which ones are you taking part in?"

"There's no need to take anything personally. That's what you are known for," she said with a grin.

"Yeah, I know," Ichigo admitted, giving a sigh.

"Don't worry about it too much. I am Mint, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Ichigo replied, "But I should be going now."

"Then I will see you later."

"Me too. Bye."

Soon lessons were over and everyone was told to go to break. Ichigo turned at the back of the classroom and saw Miyuki giving her a wave. Ichigo waved back and got out of class as soon as she could. She didn't want her to start talking to her again. It was all confusing enough. At least she had the courage to admit what she did was wrong. But it all felt a little weird. Suddenly Kisshu was being nice to her and Miyuki was acting the same. It just didn't make much sense.

Now that Ichigo was thinking about it, it's not a very good idea to trust these people so easily now that she knows what they are capable of. But then again, this could be a great chance to make new friends. And she hasn't gone to a party in a long time. Maybe she should go.

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**That is probably one of the most boring chapters I have ever written but I wanted to at least post one chapter since I haven't been continuing with this story for a long time. But now that all the boring stuff is out of theway like introducing Pudding and Mint into the story, I can move on to the more interesting parts. **(◕‿◕✿)


	14. Awkwardness

"Yes, I will be careful, mum. Don't worry," Ichigo tried not to sound a little frustrated from all her mother's questions. So she finally decided to go. It was just a stupid birthday party; Ichigo didn't know why she was worrying about it so much. Her mother looked at her and started making sure she wasn't forgetting anything. Sometimes, Ichigo wondered why her mother couldn't just relax a little, after all, she wasn't a baby anymore and it's not like they were never going to see each other again. She will only be away for a few hours at a party.

"I will miss you!" Her mother said giving a kiss in her forehead.

"Mum, stop it!"

"You have everything right?"

"Yes."

"The gift?"

"Yes."

"You remembered to put the birthday card inside?"

"Yes."

"You have your bag?"

"Yes…"

"You have enough money to get a bus home? Do you know your way? Oh, you have your phone too, right? Make sure you have enough credit so you can call us if you get lost or you're in an emergency."

"Mum!" Ichigo groaned.

Mrs Momomiya smiled, "Alright, alright."

"Mum you can be overprotective like dad too sometimes."

"We are parents, it's what we do sweetheart. One day you will understand."

"Ok, goodbye mum." Ichigo hugged her mum and left as soon as possible in case she doesn't get late.

"Have fun!"

"I will!" Ichigo shouted back, giving a quick wave.

Ichigo gave a sigh of relief, looking at her watch. She was in perfect timing. So now all she didn't have to walk as fast. To be honest, Ichigo was a little excited. She was so happy that now she has no enemies at school and it just lifted so much off her shoulders. She didn't have to worry about bullies and could concentrate on other important things. Like studying…She needed to get off from her bad habit of doing her homework last minute. She will end up handing in so much homework late if this went on.

She looked at the little card and made sure she knew where she was going. After walking a while she saw a massive house with lots of people entering it. Ichigo didn't even need to check her address to figure out that this was Miyuki's house. It was amazing. It was twice the size of her house and it just looked so beautiful.

She was greeted by Misaki and Minako, Miyuki's best friends. They were wearing beautiful and expensive looking clothes. Looking at what they were wearing, Ichigo felt a little embarrassed as her dress looked like nothing compared to theirs. Although she was happy with what she was wearing, It was a cute red dress with matching coloured shoes. It was simple and not too revealing. Perfect for her liking.

"Hey, what's up?" They said with a grin.

"I am glad I'm not late," Ichigo said laughing.

The two girls glanced at each other and smiled at Ichigo, "Nope, you are perfectly on time," They said.

Misaki and Minako led Ichigo inside, the house was bigger than she imagined. It felt like one of those movies where you get to see the inside of rich people's houses. There were massive stairs and Ichigo wondered for a while how many rooms they had.

"Ichigo! I'm so glad you could make it!" Miyuki's voice almost echoed through the room, even though there were so many people in the room, Miyuki's voice was loud and clear in the chatters of the guests and loud music in the background.

"Hi," Ichigo said, handing her the gift she prepared earlier.

"Oh thank you!"

"Happy birthday," Ichigo said with a smile.

"Happy birthday, Miyuki!" Misaki and Minako said excitedly.

"You look so pretty!" Misaki grinned.

"I know! My parents got it from abroad, it's really expensive."

The three of them talked about their clothes and jewellery for a while. Ichigo started to feel a little left out and was quiet unsure what to do apart from awkwardly standing there, listening to their conversation. When Miyuki realised Ichigo's discomfort, she gave her a reassuring smile and invited her in the conversation.

"Ichigo you look…Nice," Miyuki said looking at her dress.

Ichigo gave her a thankful smile. Ichigo was hardly talking to them, they were communicating through awkward smiles. Ichigo started to feel a little uncomfortable. Soon Kisshu walked towards them and this sent more giggles of excitement.

"Happy birthday, cutie," Kisshu handed her a big box decorated with patterns and Ichigo wondered what was in it.

"Thank you baby, you're so sweet!" Miyuki gave him a hug.

Ichigo didn't know why she was so surprised to see Kisshu here. After all, he was Miyuki's boyfriend. Watching the two flirt with each other made Ichigo feel more uncomfortable and weird. It wasn't jealousy, Ichigo knew how jealousy felt like and this feeling was something else. It was confusion. Even though they were together Ichigo didn't understand why Kisshu kissed her that day.

Kisshu looked at Ichigo as she was thinking and when she realised he was looking at her Ichigo looked away embarrassed. This was Kisshu, flirting with every single girl he sees, it just what he does.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey…" Ichigo said nervously.

"Hey Ichigo, why don't you go and wait in the other room over there, we are going to help Miyuki bring the birthday cake. We will see you there." Misaki told her pointing at the room. Ichigo nodded and soon left.

"Oh my god, did you see what she was wearing?" Miyuki said with disgust when she left.

"I know right!" Misaki and Minako nodded in agreement.

"Look what she gave you, let's see," Minako told her pointing at Ichigo's gift.

"Do you really think I want to waste my time opening that?" Miyuki said, she took Ichigo's gift and threw it in the bin next to her.

"Forget that, when are you opening my gift," Kisshu asked."I am opening yours in the end, after the party," Miyuki told him.

"Why?"

"I am saving the best for last," Miyuki winked.

Kisshu laughed giving her a hug and quick kiss.

"But don't get too attached with her, you know how much I hate her."

"Aww…There's no need to get jealous, you know all I ever think about is you, right?" Kisshu smirked giving her another long kiss, "Besides, she's nothing to me."

"Guys!" Minako and Misaki groaned. Kisshu and Miyuki soon stopped kissing, "Come on! You can do these stuff after the party, now let's dance!"

"No, first we need to get rid of her and teach her a lesson, then we have fun," Miyuki said.

"What are you going to do, you never told us."

"Oh leave that to Kisshu,"Miyuki sent him another smile.

"It will be a fun surprise, great way to start a party I guess," Kisshu told them, giving them one of his mysterious smirks.

"She's done for, it will teach her not to mess with us," Miyuki said calmy, taking a drink from the table.

They were talking about Ichigo.

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**I just love twists in stories! I tried to update faster and tried to make it as interesting as I could. Now all I can do is hope you guys enjoyed it! Please keep reading, love you all! ^3^**


	15. Regret

**I am sorry I didn't update. But I wanted to concentrate on my other story 'Devil's Sweet Princess'. I like working one story at a time and I was running out of ideas for this story anyway. But here's chapter 15, sorry, it's really short. **

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Kisshu approached Ichigo and took her hand. He ignored her protests and led her out of the room.

"Kisshu! What are you doing? Let my hand go!" Ichigo said, "Please!"

Kisshu dragged her to an empty room and closed the door behind him. Ichigo looked at him, confused and gulped. She didn't like what was going on.

"Why did you close the door?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu stared at her for a moment. He walked closer to her.

"What?" Ichigo moved away from him.

"I want to talk to you," he told her, holding her arm and pulling her back.

"About what?"

"About us."

Ichigo blinked a couple of times. She looked at the closed door and looked back at him. She gave him another questioning look to say he needed to explain further.

"I really like you," he told her.

"Um..."

"And when I said I wanted to go out with you, I meant it."

"Ok, I see what this is about," Ichigo gave a little cough and looked back at him, "You are really sweet, but I don't think this is a good idea..."

"I told you I was sorry," he told her, giving her a smile, "And I promise you that no one will ever bother you again."

Ichigo didn't know what to say so she just listened to him. It was amazing how someone could change so easily and quickly. Miyuki was being nice to her all of a sudden and now Kisshu was being kind to her. It almost felt like they weren't the same people that bullied her last time in the canteen. Ichigo would love to put that all behind her and make some new friends at school. Everything was falling into place.

"W...What about Miyuki?" Ichigo asked.

"What about her?" Kisshu pulled her chin up so her eyes met his.

"Um..." Ichigo thought for a moment.

"Me and Miyuki aren't dating, if that's what you're thinking."

"Really? You aren't?"

"No. We dated for a few months last year and then we broke up."

Ichigo wasn't convinced but she nodded anyway. Kisshu placed his arms around her and touched his forehead with hers. Ichigo moved away in but Kisshu only walked closer to her, sensing her discomfort. He gave her a smile and Ichigo couldn't help smiling back.

"So? What do you think?" Kisshu whispered in her ear, "Why don't we give it a go?"

"I...I will think about it."

"No that's not going to do, I want a yes."

Ichigo took a deep breath. She bit her lip and looked down. And without thinking, almost as if her lips moved by themselves, she whispered, "Y...Yes..."

Kisshu grinned.

"I think I like you too," Ichigo said.

Kisshu gave her a quick kiss.

"So I think...um...we should get back?"

Ichigo nodded.

"But this was nice," Kisshu said, "We will talk more about this tomorrow."

"Sure."

Kisshu took her hand and opened the door. As soon as he opened it, Miyuki and group of people stood behind her. They all laughed them as they held hands. Mikyuki stood with her arms crossed. She smiled at Kisshu and then looked at Ichigo who stood there confused. She gave her a wink and grinned. Ichigo's eyes widened, she let Kisshu's hand go and looked at him. Kisshu did nothing expect smirk at her. Ichigo was speechless, and that's when she realised how big of a mistake she made. That's when she regretted everything that she said and did.

"No..." She whispered.

Now there was no way back. She realised how stupid and foolish she was. She couldn't believe how easily she made a fool out of herself and how easily she got cought up in Kisshu's stupid lies. Regret washed over her like water, it was icy cold and it let shivers down her spine.


	16. Humiliation

**Ok guys so here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it. Feel free to review and tell me what you think. Kisshu is going to be a meanie a lot in this story. I am big Kisshigo fan and I will make them go together somehow so no worries for all who ship this pair! ;)**

* * *

Ichigo stared at everyone as they laughed at her. She could hardly look at Kisshu, he was probably laughing too. Ichigo once again stood there, feeling disappointed in herself. These people weren't wrong in making fun of her, it wasn't their fault. They didn't know how to act human, so how could she expect them not to do things like that? She looked down to the floor. Ichigo tried to escape from the crowd but Kisshu held her arm and pulled her back.

"Not done."

"Don't touch me, you jerk!" Ichigo shouted.

"Hey! Keep your voice down," Miyuki told her.

Ichigo only gave her a glare but Miyuki only smiled watching her in such a helpless position.

"So you're not done, yet?" Ichigo hissed at him, "I made one mistake and I admit it."

Ichigo paused for a few seconds before continuing.

"But that doesn't mean you can break me so easily by doing all this," Ichigo looked at Kisshu who looked back at a different direction, "What's wrong? You feel so happy doing these to people, are you happy now?"

"Do you think that after finding out your true colours, I will go home and start crying? I am not dying to get your love. Look! My eyes are completely dry, make as much fun of me as you want."

Ichigo didn't bother looking away as Kisshu stared at her. Her eyes were filled with anger and not a single tear formed in them, instead, they shone surprisingly bright.

"Alright then," Kisshu said, nodding, "Let's see how much you can take."

Ichigo could do nothing but just watch him look at Miyuki and give her a nod. Miyuki smirked at him and left the room. Ichigo had no idea what they were up to, but she didn't have to wait for long. Soon, Miyuki left and came back within a minute. She held a plate, and on that plate there was a piece of chocolate cake.

"Since you are here in my birthday party, I can't let you go without trying some of my cake, can I?" She smiled, "So here, Ichigo. Do the honours and you can be the first person to try it, here have some!"

Before Ichigo could say 'no' Miyuki took the cake from the plate and placed it on her face, soon Ichigo was covered with chocolate cake and icing on her face and her clothes.

"What are you doing?!" Ichigo exclaimed, "Stop it!"

A few people in the front clapped and laughed. Ichigo was too shocked to do anything.

"Let's see if you cry now," Ichigo heard Kisshu say.

He got a glass of juice and threw it at her face. Her clothes were soaked and her face became a mess.

Soon, to Ichigo's horror more and more people started throwing food at her. Ichigo covered her face with her hands her attempts of escaping failed as everyone was surrounding her. She screamed but the more she did so the harder everyone started to laugh.

"STOP IT!" Ichigo screamed.

No one listened until Kisshu gestured everyone to stop, "Ok guys I think she's had enough."

"Just one more thing," Kisshu added.

Kisshu placed his hands in his pocket and took out a small piece of paper. He then smirked before sticking it to Ichigo's forehead. Ichigo didn't bother looking what was in the little piece of paper, as soon as everyone stopped throwing food at her, she ran out of the room. Only when she was out of that house and she was walking back home alone, did she break down and start to sob. She also remembered the note stuck to her forehead, as she cried, she took the note out and read it. Ichigo rolled her eyes to say she wasn't surprised. It was the same note she found in her locker a few days ago.

_Be aware. We are coming to get you._

And Kisshu's name was signed underneath it.

Ichigo mentally slapped herself in frustration. She once again humiliated herself in front of everyone.


	17. A Talk From The Past

Ichigo gave a sigh and as she sipped some tea. She constantly took her watch out to check the time to make sure she wasn't going to be late. She woke up extra early today, so she decided to walk around early in the morning to get her mind cleared up. She found a nearby café and decided to go and get something to eat. She told her parents that she didn't want to have breakfast at home and would get something to eat from some nearby shops along the way. It was the first time she woke up this early, ignoring the fact that she was disciplined and worked hard, she had an annoying habit of completing her homework to the last minute and coming t school late. She used come late to school nearly everyday in her old school, and who knows the amount of times that she forgot to hand in her homework. But when she found out that she would be going to a school as good as Sora Academy, she forced herself to become more organised.

She told herself that if she was going to get anywhere in life she had to sort out her carelessness and stubbornness first. Leaving her best friends - Moe and Miwa - behind wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. But in return, she met great friends like Lettuce and Pudding. Of course the school was not at all how she imagined it would be, there were slightly too many idiots attending it, but overall it was a good school. Ichigo told herself that she wasn't going to ruin her dreams just because of some little obstacles she met along the way. She decided to not think about the incident from Miyuki's birthday party.

_"God I miss you guys so much," _Ichigo thought.

"Would you like anything else, ma'am?" A tall, cute-looking girl asked Ichigo with a smile.

Ichigo instantly looked up and smiled back, "No thank you, I full and I don't have any money left anyway."

The girl looked at her for a second before bursting out laughing. Ichigo gave her a questioning look.

"W...What is it?"

"Nonsense, you only had a cup of tea, how are you already full?"

"Oh..." Ichigo giggled, "But I better be going anyways."

"No, no stay!" She told her, "You know what, considering that you are our first customer today, why don't you choose any meal and I will give it to you for free."

"Really?" Ichigo looked at her watch, there was still a lot of time left, "Um...thank you!"

As soon as Ichigo gave her the orders, she ran back to get them. Once she arrived, she gave the meal to Ichigo and sat down on the table next to her.

"It doesn't usually get busy until nine o'clock, so I have less work to do."

"Yes, I see. It's incredibly quiet in her. I like it, it gives me time to think."

"I am Sakiko, by the way," she said giving another smile. She had beautiful black hair and and bright yellow eyes.

"I am Ichigo."

"So, Ichigo, what were thinking so hard about with such a serious looking face as you were sipping tea?"

Ichigo laughed, "Nothing much, just school...You know..."

"Tell me about it, incredibly annoying isn't it?"

Ichigo nodded.

"When did you start working in here?"

"Oh just a month ago, I am pretty new in this place."

"Yeah me too."

They talked for a while and laughed at each other's jokes. After a while, Ichigo stood up to leave. She waved goodbye to Sakiko and left. She was glad she entered that café. She felt like it was the first time in ages she did something right. She entered the familiar looking gates and ignored the quiet whispers as she entered. Soon Lettuce ran up to her as soon as she saw her.

"Oh Lettuce, hi!"

"Ichigo are you ok?" she asked with a worried look.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"We heard what happened na no da," Pudding added as soon as she saw them.

"Oh, no I am fine, really."

"The headmaster wants to see you."

"Wait, what?"

"He's in his office."

"We don't know why," Lettuce told her.

Ichigo nodded and instead of entering her normal lessons in the morning, she walked up to the headmaster's office. She bowed down when she saw him. He was reading some papers on his desk but as soon as he saw her he put those down and gestured her to sit down.

"Miss Momomiya, is it?"

Ichigo nodded.

"Yes take a seat, make yourself comfortable."

Ichigo wondered why he would want to see her so early in the morning.

"I apologise for calling you so early."

"No it's alright."

"But there is something I would like to talk to you about."

Ichigo listened quietly.

"It's about Kisshu Ikisatashi, I take it you heard about him."

Ichigo's heart skipped a beat.

"You are not in trouble, do not worry."

Ichigo gave a sigh of relief.

"But there is something I need to tell you," he said, "You see, you are an incredibly talented student in this school."

"Thank you."

"And we need you here. This school is competing with other good schools and it needs committed and talented students like you so it stays the best."

He paused for a moment.

"And I heard that Kisshu has been troubling you recently."

"Oh...Um..."

"I checked the cameras in the canteen and I saw how he humiliated you. I would like to let you know that Kisshu will be punished for what he did to you. I also heard by a few students that he's troubling you after school. What you do after school is none of my business but I want you to be safe."

"Thank you for showing your concern, but it's fine."

"It's not fine. I was good friends with Kisshu's parents and I want him to do well. But that doesn't mean I will let him get away with doing wrong things."

He paused for a second time.

"Kisshu's father died in a car accident when he was about the age of five."

Ichigo's eyes widened, "What...?"

"As you might be able to guess, Kisshu was very upset and the only two people who he had in his life was his mother and his sister. But his mother left them."

"Left them?"

"Yes, she disappeared one day and left them in care of myself and his uncle and aunt. She wrote a note apologising and left with a lot of money for them. You see, ever since then, he hated his mother for leaving them and was looked after his older sister."

"That is...I had no idea."

"I know. But luck was not in his side. To make matters worse, his sister, probably the only woman he loved after his mother, died five years ago, the same way his father died."

Ichigo gasped, she was speechless.

"I should not be telling you any of this but ever since his mother left, he hated the female gender. His temper shortened and he would disrespect people like you. He would also misbehave a lot at school. If he was not the son of my best friend I wouldn't have kept him in here. I want him to change, you see."

Ichigo was quiet for a long time.

"Listen, I am not trying to make you feel sorry for him. He has been through a lot but it was still not an excuse for what he did to you. But I would just like to let you know that he will be punished and I will make sure he doesn't trouble you again and you can continue working hard in peace. I wanted you to know why he behaves this way and please do not tell him I told you any of this."

"This will only be between us, sir. Thank you for telling me."

"Thank you, now you may go back to your lesson. But before you go..." he looked through his drawers and took out an old photo and showed it to her, "This is his family, Kisshu burned all his family photos but I managed to save this one."

Ichigo took the photo and looked at it carefully. Her eyes widened in shock for a moment. Ichigo blinked a couple of times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She wanted to have a closer look but the headmaster dismissed her and ordered her to go back to her lesson. Ichigo bowed down to him one last time and left the room. In the photo, Kisshu was standing next to his parents and his sister. What surprised her the most was his sister. She had beautiful long, black her and bright golden eyes, identical to Kisshu's. It was the same girl from the café.


	18. Special

Mikyuki gasped as she opened the beautifully wrapped box. She shrieked as soon as she finished opening it and saw what was inside.

"This is so pretty!" She nearly screamed, "Put it on for me!"

He took the shining bracelet out of the box and put it on her hand, "It looks beautiful in your hand."

"I know," Miyuki smiled, giving him a kiss. He placed his hands oh her neck and trailed down to her legs. They kept kissing until Miyuki pulled away.

"That's enough, we can't let others see us," she whispered.

"No one will see us."

"Keep bringing me gifts like these and we will do much more."

"I will give you anything you want."

He said before pulling her back and giving her a kiss on the neck, Miyuki giggled.

She looked around to make sure no one saw them before quickly placing her lips on his again. She was kissing him. It wasn't Kisshu.

* * *

"Are you ok?"

"What?"

"Watching them kiss like that?" Ichigo whispered, pointing at Miyuki who was stuck on some boy's face like an octopus.

Kisshu shrugged.

Miyuki continued shrieking and giggling, having no idea that Kisshu was watching her. Ichigo stood next to him.

"I am sorry," Ichigo said quietly.

"What the hell are you doing here? Get lost!" Kisshu snapped.

Ichigo nearly jumped at his sudden outrage but she stayed calm. She remembered her meeting with Sakiko, who Ichigo believes is Kisshu's sister, and she couldn't stop thinking about her little chat with the headmaster a few days ago. She knew much more about Kisshu now, about his past. Yes, she was still angry at him but she thought about him for a long time. She came up with a conclusion that she needed to share what she knows with him. Even though his life was none of her business, she couldn't keep away something like that. Something so big.

"Wasn't the event in the canteen and Miyuki's birthday party enough? Do you need to be taught another lesson?"

"She doesn't love you. Miyuki, I mean," Ichigo said, giving a long sigh.

"So? Let her do what she wants. She wasn't so special to me anyway."

"Stop doing that!" Ichigo shouted at him.

"What?"

"Act like nothing hurts you..." Ichigo replied, "You're not immune to pain."

"Ok I am not in the mood to listen to you talking. Just shut up and leave."

"No," Ichigo shook her head, "I am not leaving."

"What do you want. You know fully well how dangerous I am, stay away from me."

"I want to help you!"

"You know nothing about me! Help me with what?!"

"Seriously? Is this the only emotion you know how to feel? Anger? I know more about you then you think."

Kisshu rolled his eyes and scoffed at her. Ichigo didn't want to have anything to do with him. His rudeness and selfishness, makes Ichigo want to throw a brick at his face. When will he understand? She couldn't believe that he would be related to such a nice girl like Sakiko. She was so kind and has such a caring atmosphere, completely opposite from Kisshu. She was doing all this for Sakiko. Kisshu will thank her later. But Ichigo took a moment to convince herself that what she was doing was right. Poor Kisshu thinks her sister is dead, she needs to tell him that he's wrong and somehow make him meet her. Or else he will never believe her.

"Sakiko," Ichigo told him.

Kisshu's eyes widened from hearing her name and he said nothing for a moment. He observed Ichigo serious expression, she wasn't joking.

"How do you know Sakiko?" He whispered.

"She...Kisshu she isn't dead."

Kisshu blinked and he managed to say nothing in disbelief.

"She didn't die in a car accident, she is alive. Just...Please let me help you."

Ichigo looked at her watch, the buzzer had already rang ten minutes ago and mostly everyone left home. She had to lead him to the café. Ichigo took Kisshu's hand, "Come with me."

And with that she took him out of the school gates and led her to the café.

"If you are lying, I am going to kill you," Kisshu threatened. Ichigo said nothing.

They both entered and looked around for a moment. It was filled with people ordering their meals and happily chatting away to each other. Kisshu felt Ichigo tug his shoulder, he looked at her who pointed to the right hand-side of the room. Kisshu froze the moment he saw her. Sakiko was smiling at the customers and serving them. It took her a few minutes to realise Kisshu was staring her. She gasped when she saw him and the plate of food she was holding, slipped down her fingers and fell, crashing to the floor. Bits of glass laid in the ground. There was a long moment of silence. The customers looked at her in disbelief. Kisshu and Ichigo said nothing.

"Hey! That was our order!" One lady said.

"I am sorry ma'am, I will bring you another one," she said, but didn't look at her once in the eye. She quickly picked up the broken pieces of glass and ran to the kitchen. Soon, the loudness of chatter increased and went back to normal.

Kisshu followed her to the kitchen. He entered and ignored a few people who told him not to enter. He didn't care what they said. He took a deep breath when he saw Sakiko again. Sakiko stared at him, tears trickled down her cheeks. Sakiko quickly wiped her tears.

"I am sorry, sir. But you are not allowed in here. How can I help you?"

Kisshu stared at her in shock. He walked closer to her.

"Is there anything you would like?" She asked.

"Yes," Kisshu said, "I want my sister back."

He ran to her and hugged her.

"Kisshu..."

"I thought you were dead!" he screamed, "All these years, you didn't think once to come and see me."

"I didn't know where you were!" She exclaimed, "I survived the accident, then mother took me in. She made it look like I was dead..."

"Why?"

"She wanted me to stay with her. I hated her for leaving us, so I left and went to look for you. But you weren't home. You moved school...No one knew where you were..."

"Everyone's here. Pai and Taruto are here too."

"They...They're here?" Sakiko smiled when Kisshu nodded, "How did you find me anyway?"

"Oh this girl bought me to you."

Sakiko looked at him for a moment and smiled again, "I would like to meet her."

Kisshu went out of the kitchen, he completely forgot about Ichigo. She wasn't there.

"Where is she?" Sakiko asked.

"I don't...She's not here. She probably left."

"I am sure she is really special," Sakiko whispered.

Kisshu smiled, "She is. She is very special..."


	19. Leave Me Alone

The welcoming scent of coffee wafted through the air. The café was nearly empty, the last few customers were getting ready to leave. Kisshu smiled at Sakiko. Sakiko gave him a quick smile. A few minutes later, Sakiko waved goodbye to a few other people in the kitchen and walked outside with her brother.

"Let's go," she said.

For the past two weeks Kisshu and Sakiko talked days on end. Pai and Taruto were ecstatic and shocked at the same time to see her.

"I can't believe I am seeing you again!"

Sakiko said, giving a quiet yawn. It was dark outside and was getting late.

"You're tired," Kisshu said.

"Yeah I know that," She laughed.

"So where have you been all this time?"

"I told you already..."

"No you didn't."

"I don't want to talk about me right now, ok?" Sakiko said, her voice had a tiny hint of anger in it, "Let's talk about you, how's school?"

Kisshu rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"School is just...School, I guess. It's boring as it can be. Nothing impressive about my grades either."

"Fine. We won't talk about grades. Let's see..." Sakiko thought for a moment before a smile appeared in her face again, "Who was that girl?"

"What girl?"

"You said someone led you to me. She knew where I was and somehow knew about us."

"Oh, you mean Ichigo..."

"Yeah that's her name-" Sakiko froze for a moment. Like she remembered something important.

"What now?"

"Ichigo? The cute girl with red hair?"

Kisshu nodded, "Hang on, you know her?"

"Yeah she came to the café one morning and she was our first customer that day so I talked to her for a while."

"So you've met her before?"

"That's probably how she knew me."

"That makes sense..."

Silence followed afterwards.

Kisshu thought for a moment, like he was carefully planning out what to say.

"I still don't understand how she knew you are my sister though..."

"Me neither," Sakiko shrugged, "She must be a really good friend. Did you talk to her?"

"Oh we're not friends."

"How come?"

"We just aren't. She's more annoying than she looks."

"Oh come on! What did you do?"

"What?"

"She is so sweet! How can you not like her?"

"I don't know! Just because..."

Sakiko sighed, "Did you at least thank her?"

"For what?"

"Oh my god, Kisshu! We wouldn't have met if it wasn't because of her, you idiot! Did you forget all your manner while I was gone?"

Kisshu groaned, "You go and thank her."

"Ok, Kisshu, you are going to be completely honest with me and tell me what she did. Did she hurt you?"

Kisshu looked away.

"Come on, tell me!"

"No...It was me. I hurt her..."

Sakiko looked at Kisshu for a while, "Why would you do that?"

Kisshu said nothing.

"Kisshu I know you can be seen to be a very cold person. You've been like that ever since mum left. And with what happened with dad...It was hard on you. You stopped talking to everyone and I understand how you feel. But you can't treat others badly because of what happened to you. It's not fair."

Kisshu remembered what happened at Miyuki's birthday party. The way he led her into that trap. The way he fooled her into thinking he liked her and then broke her heart and humiliated her in front of everyone. After what he did, Ichigo would never trust him again. But he did that with everyone. He leaves everyone that way. He broke away from his closest friends and made sure he couldn't get close to anyone. What better way could there be to make sure they couldn't leave him again? No friends or people to love, meant he would never have to worry about losing them. That was the deal he made with life. He would give up everyone he loved so he wouldn't have to feel pain.

"Kisshu?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

"Sure."

"I know why you don't like getting close to people, but you have to stop doing that. You can't make people hate you. You are a good person but no one ever sees it because you always hide it behind this thing that you have going on."

"I am happy with I am doing."

"But what about other people? What about Ichigo?"

Kisshu didn't say a word for the rest of the night. Neither did Sakiko.

* * *

"So what did he want to talk to you about na no da?" Pudding asked as they walked along the corridors.

Ichigo sighed, she hadn't told her friends anything that had been going on about Kisshu. She gave a quick shrug and said nothing about the subject. Lettuce and Pudding glanced at each other worriedly for a moment. They said nothing for a while and kept walking alongside her before Lettuce finally found the courage to speak up.

"He didn't expel you, did he?"

Ichigo was shocked for a moment, "What?! Um...No, it's not like that."

Ichigo looked down. Lettuce and Pudding gave a sigh of relief.

"Anyways, I don't want to talk about this. It's nothing important," Ichigo reassured both of her friends.

"Ok...If you say so..." Pudding and Lettuce muttered, but were still not convinced.

Ichigo quickly went through her bag to make sure she had everything for her next lessons. As she looked through, she felt Lettuce tug her arm. She closed her bag and slowly looked up. She was confused for a second but then she realised why Lettuce and Pudding were so shocked. Kisshu was walking up a ladder and cleaning the windows up high.

"What on Earth is he doing na no da?" Pudding whispered.

Kisshu looked down and looked at the three of them.

Lettuce and Pudding looked away, "Let's go," Lettuce told Pudidng and Ichigo, "He's probably being punished."

"Serves him right na no da," Pudding said.

Ichigo said nothing. She only glanced at him for a quick second and followed her friends.

"What do we have next?" Lettuce asked.

"After lunch?" Ichigo asked.

Lettuce nodded.

"Maths. I think...Na no da," Pudding replied.

"I want to go and eat," Ichigo said, giving a yawn, "I woke up late and didn't eat anything since morning. I am so tired."

"Oh but Ichigo, you were meant to study with us in the library!" Lettuce exclaimed.

"No it's fine. You guys go and work, I am going to eat and quickly come back, I promise!" Ichigo reassured everyone. Pudding and Lettuce knew Ichigo wouldn't do that but nodded anyway. They watched Ichigo run out and shout something which didn't make any sense.

* * *

Ichigo walked quickly. She was only steps away from the exit door when she felt two hands pull her back. Ichigo screamed in shock, but was even more surprised to see Kisshu holding her arm. For a fraction of a second, Ichigo felt like smiling to see him, but then she remembered what he did and she nearly had to force herself to stop crying. To try and hold her tears back. She didn't say a word. She didn't care what he had to say, she wasn't in the mood to talk to him so tried to get him to leave his arm. Just like Ichigo expected, he didn't let go.

"Listen, I am going to say this as nicely as I can. I am not in a good mood right now, just let my hand go. I am seriously tired of all this," Ichigo looked like she would lose it any moment, her patience was reaching to that point where she could no longer control her anger.

"I-"

"Let my hand go!" Ichigo shouted.

Kisshu let her hand go.

"I-"

Kisshu was cut off again, this time with a slap. Kisshu was surprised for a second but his face didn't show it. Instead he grinned.

"I don't think you understand what you just did," Kisshu said, "You bought my sister back to me. So I just wanted to thank you. If it weren't for you, I might never have met her. "

Kisshu looked back at Ichigo. He didn't know when but Ichigo's eyes were filled with tears. Ichigo made no eye contact with him, instead she sobbed and cried. She was trying so hard to not cry in front of him. She couldn't let him think that she was weak but her mind didn't listen and she stood there, sobbing. Her cries were uncontrollable.

"Ichigo..."

"Just to make something clear," Ichigo said in between her sobs, "I didn't do this for you, I did this for Sakiko."

Ichigo took a deep breath and wiped her tears quickly.

"Just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you," Ichigo said, she didn't care if she hurt him.

"I know you're angry..."

"I am not angry at you," Ichigo replied, "I am angry at myself. I can't believe I ever trusted someone like you. I feel so stupid..."

And with that, Ichigo ran out.

Kisshu watched her run. When he saw helpless tears in her eyes: tears which he knew were there because of him, he hated to admit it but it almost felt like something inside him died when he saw her cry in that way. Almost like he lost something he never knew was so important to him. Almost as if he lost something he wished yet he knew he never had.


	20. A Day In The Fair

Ichigo took the sheet of paper from Lettuce. She looked at name at the top and stared at it for a while.

"Come on read it!" Lettuce exclaimed.

"It's a trip..." Ichigo said.

"Why do you look so confused?" Lettuce asked.

"You got in too?" Ichigo asked.

"Yup!" Lettuce smiled, "You're coming, right? Or there will be no point for me to be going."

"Oh I don't know if I can...I mean..."

"Come on! I get selected every year but I never go because I never have anyone to go with. Please...?"

"Why can't you go with Pudding?"

"She's not going. She's in lower school, she just started this year so she's probably going to be awarded to go to a different trip."

"Oh...But what is it?"

Lettuce gave a quiet groan, "Give the letter to me, you're not going to read it so let me explain it to you."

Ichigo giggled.

"After the exam, the top fifty students who get the highest score get chosen to go to a trip. This one is to the summer fair coming up next week."

"You really want to go don't you..?" Ichigo sighed, "Fine I will ask my parents."

"Thank you!" Lettuce grinned, "Actually there is this amazing book shop there..."

"Don't tell me that's why you want to go!" Ichigo shrieked. Lettuce laughed and shook her head to say she was only joking.

"I can't wait!"

* * *

As children ran around, looking at all the pretty toys on display and trying on all the rides, the smell of barbecue and sweet candy filled the air. Ichigo smiled, it was a beautiful day and a perfect way to keep her minds off studying for a while.

"This is fun!" Lettuce smiled, "I am going to go and get something to eat, see you soon, ok?"

Ichigo nodded. She felt dizzy with excitement and was unable to think of what to do first. She felt like she was a little child again. She remembered visiting funfairs with her parents when she was younger. What great fun she had. The sweet memories made Ichigo smile.

"And we meet again."

Ichigo heard a voice of a girl from behind her.

"Oh, Mint!" Ichigo said surprised.

"The main reason we were bought here is because of the party we have in the end. This is all quite childish, don't you think?"

"There will be a party? What party? And if you think this is so childish why are you here?"

"These all go on your student records at the end of the year. The amount to school trips you went to and how much you participated in school all count."

"I see," Ichigo smiled.

"And we will have a small party afterwards in some café, probably. You will look pretty stupid going there without a date," Mint said with a wink.

"Oh I am not into dancing anyway. But this is quite refreshing, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Mint smiled for the first time.

"Ichigo, have you been in any rides?"

"Yeah, a few," Ichigo replied.

"Well how about we go to that one," Mint said pointing to one of the attractions.

Ichigo looked at the direction Mint was pointing at and gasped, "That one?"

Mint smirked, "The haunted house. Why are you scared?"

"I am not into those stuff..."Ichigo began but Mint only took her hand and dragged her there.

"Don't be such a scary cat! Come on it will be fun watching you die from fear."

Ichigo could do nothing else but protest but Mint forced her inside. Ichigo gulped once they were in. Mint kept walking in, Ichigo looked around and quickly ran after her. Once she was in, she couldn't escape.

"Damn it I forgot about Lettuce," Ichigo told herself.

"She can look after herself, it will be fine," Mint said.

"How can you like these stuff?" Ichigo said looking around. She could hardly see where she was going, it was too dark.

"I've been in one of these before, this isn't half as scary as the other one."

"But how do we get out?"

"It's like a maze you fool, you have to find your own way out or we could be stuck here forever..." Mint said in a low whispery voice.

"Stop trying to scare me!" Ichigo complained but Mint only laughed.

Mint told Ichigo that everything would be fine and they kept walking. As they walked, Ichigo started to feel a little more relaxed. Maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. They walked past the 'room of mirrors' where the whole room was filled with mirrors and the only thing she could see was her's and Mint's reflection on them, and then an empty room with some dusty furniture.

"What's that painting?" Ichigo asked.

"What painting?" Mint asked.

"That one," Ichigo said, pointing at a different room.

"There's no painting there, what are you talking about?" Mint said.

Ichigo walked inside the dark room. It was empty, and the painting disappeared. Ichigo's eyes widened, she stood there confused for a moment.

"It's not in here," she said in a disappointed voice. She turned around to go back to Mint before the door she entered from slammed by itself. Ichigo gasped.

"What is happening?!" She shouted. She looked around the room to see if anyone closed it from the inside. She looked back to the place she thought she saw a painting and instead, found a someone standing. Ichigo screamed in fright, then stopped once she looked at the face more closely. Once she realised who was there, she froze on the spot and said nothing. It was Kisshu.


	21. Pool Of Crimson

**I've been getting a lot of guest reviews lately and unfortunately I can't reply to any of them but just letting you all know that I am very grateful for all the reviews and so I'm showing my appreciation here instead. Thank you! Especially to Mary Neko, you wonderful person, muchas gracias! ;) haha lol... Anyways, sorry for the late update, it took me so long to get this chapter ready. I've been working at it for so long now and I was just unsure of what to write next. Hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading!**

* * *

"I didn't do anything," Kisshu blurted out before Ichigo could start blaming him.

Ichigo was about to say something in return but paused for a moment when she heard a faint laughing noise outside the room.

"That's Taruto," Kisshu said rolling his eyes, "That little..."

"He did this?" Ichigo asked. She quickly tried to open the door which slammed behind her.

"It's not going to open, it's probably locked," Kisshu told her.

Ichigo groaned in annoyance. It was locked. Ichigo took a deep breath and took a few second to take in what had just happened.

She. Was. Locked. In. A. Haunted. House. With. Kisshu.

"WE ARE LOCKED INSIDE?!" Ichigo screamed.

"Um..."

"WE ARE GOING TO DIE HERE!"

Kisshu watched Ichigo panic for a while. He rolled his eyes and attempted to open the door himself.

"Is it working?" Ichigo asked with a frightened look on her face.

"Nope."

"Great..."

"It'll be fine, try messaging someone or call them if they don't reply. I don't have my phone, use yours," Kisshu said calmly.

Ichigo stared at him with her eyes widened. Kisshu groaned, now even more annoyed, "You don't have your phone either do you?"

"This is not good!" Ichigo exclaimed, "How are we going to get out?"

Kisshu shrugged, "Scream and hope someone hears us and let's us out?"

"Do you think it will work?"

"Nope."

Ichigo groaned. She tried screaming for help for a couple of minutes. But if anyone heard Ichigo's cries of help, then it was ignored as no one decided to get help, Kisshu only stood there and watched.

"This is hopeless!" Ichigo cried.

"I told you it wasn't going to work."

"Why did you even suggest it then?"

"What else can we do? Taruto did all this, he plays stupid tricks like this every time we get on trip."

There was a long silence after that. Ichigo gulped at the thought of being stuck in a room with Kisshu. But it was mostly the fact that she was stuck in a haunted house which troubled her more. After all, he wasn't doing anything as of yet.

_"I shouldn't have come in here in the first place! Stupid, stupid Mint..." _Ichigo thought, remembering that it was Mint who got her there in the first place. Now she feels stupid and regretted listening to her.

"You aren't scared are you?" Kisshu snickered.

"W...What? No!" Ichigo lied, "Um...What time is it? Do you have a watch?" Ichigo asked, trying to change the subject.

Kisshu nodded and looked at his watch, "We've been here for about half an hour."

Ichigo sighed, "It feels so much longer though..."

"Does it?"

Ichigo gave a small nod, "Damn it, it's cold here," Ichigo said, shivering.

"Well, at least I know how to solve that problem," Kisshu replied.

Ichigo soon felt tight arms around her shoulders.

She gasped in surprise, "What the hell?"

"Is it warmer now?" Kisshu whispered.

"I am fine! Let me go!"

"What else did he tell you about me?" Kisshu said quietly, ignoring Ichigo's protests.

"Who?"

"Mr Kayama, who told you about Sakiko."

Ichigo stopped struggling and froze when she heard him talk about Sakiko. She remembered Mr Kayama telling her to not say anything to Kisshu. She also promised him that she wasn't going to mention anything to him about their little conversation. She completely broke her promise when she got him and Sakiko together. But what else could she do? She was sure that what she did was right and Mr Kayama couldn't be angry at her because after all, her intentions weren't wrong and a lot of good came out of it - it bought two people together. She hated Kisshu but she had to do it for Sakiko. She couldn't believe that such a kind and caring person like her could be related to such a jerk like Kisshu in any way. But nevertheless, she was happy for both of them.

Ichigo said nothing to Kisshu and was quiet for a while. She knew how sensitive Kisshu was about his family and the topic was very light after what happened. She couldn't believe he went through so much.

"Tell me," Kisshu demanded. But because he said it in such a quiet and soft way, it didn't sound as aggressive. Quiet the opposite, in fact.

"He told me you hated women because of what your mum did to you."

Kisshu kept his arms around Ichigo, "I don't hate all women," he corrected, "I just hate my mum."

"I know what she did was horrible..."

"How would you know? You don't know how it feels to have both parents leave like you that."

"I don't. But I couldn't stand losing my parents," Ichigo whispered, "Your sister is a great person though."

"I was told she died in a car accident. It's weird but Sakiko hates talking about it. She doesn't say anything every time I ask her about it."

"Why?"

"All she said was that she was taken to a hospital and mum came to visit her. She took Sakiko with her, to take care of her. She soon came to look for me when she was better."

"I don't understand why she left you like that."

"I don't either. She left us a lot of money. My uncle took me in. Mr Kayama was my dad's best friend so I was put to his school. He seems to like you a lot though. When he found out about the canteen and birthday party incident, he made me clean all the windows in school."

"Yeah, I saw," Ichigo sighed, "You really hate me, don't you?"

"How could I hate you when you bought Sakiko back?"

"Was everything fake? The birthday party, the garden where you apologised, the kiss...Didn't any of it mean anything to you?"

"Did it mean anything to you?"

"Do you do that with other girls? Pretend you love them then break their hearts?" Ichigo asked, avoiding the question.

"Other girls don't care about love. They only care about money, good looks and fame. Didn't think you would be any different."

"Well I am very different!" Ichigo said, louder than she wanted it to come out. Ichigo herself was surprised at her sudden burst of anger, "Besides, you have Miyuki..."

"Miyuki's parents used to do some sort of business with my family. It's how we met and she didn't stop following me since then. You really hate her don't you?"

"I can't stand her."

"You jealous?" Kisshu smirked.

"Shut up!" Ichigo pushed him away. She was about to say something else but she heard a loud noise.

TAP!

"Ok what the hell was that?" Ichigo asked.

Before Kisshu could say something to calm Ichigo down, a big skeleton fell from above. Kisshu didn't get a chance to explain to her that it was just some stupid joke. Ichigo screamed and then it all happened again. She tripped herself and fell. The most embarrassing part being that she fell on top of Kisshu. He tried to catch her when she fell but must have ran with so much force that both of them didn't have time to react when Kisshu got caught up along with her.

Ichigo stopped screaming and blushed bright red instead. She kept doing stupid things and getting herself into weird situations. Kisshu was surprised too. His face was confused for about a second but when he realised just what happened, his lips transformed into his signature smirk.

"I knew you were scared. It wasn't even a real skeleton," Kisshu whispered.

"Um...Yeah, I know..." Ichigo said, trying to get up. But Kisshu only held her arms and pulled her back down again. So close that their faces were only about a few centimetres away from each other. Their lips nearly met...

"Don't move."

Kisshu said nothing else. He stared at Ichigo's eyes, admiring its colour and innocence. He remembered the last time he tried to talk to her and thank her but ended up making her cry instead. He started to feel like what he did had such an impact on her that now he could do nothing to fix it. She would hate him so much that just the thought of his existence would make her angry.

"How are you so calm? We are locked in this place. We can't even get out or get help and we are here talking about useless things! How do I know you aren't the one who planned all this just to annoy me or-"

"I told you before, I didn't do anything. If you remember, I am stuck here too, if I planned this I would have at least thought of a way to get back out again."

"I don't know what you're trying to do but I suggest you let me go, this is stupid."

"You are the one who gets scared at little things. If you didn't trip. we wouldn't be in this awkward situation in the first place," Kisshu pointed out.

"Don't try blaming this on me! It's uncomfortable for me but you must have been close like this to so many other girls. I don't see how it would make any difference to you and why you would find things like this awkward," Ichigo said angrily, "Don't ever touch me again!"

She blurted out everything so quickly and without thinking at all of what she was saying that she didn't realise how much she hurt him until he suddenly got back up and pushed her away from him. Ichigo was surprised at his sudden change of mood. She didn't expect him to get so aggressive all of a sudden like that.

Ichigo slowly got up and watched Kisshu get up and walk towards the door.

_"Great! He looks angry, this can't be good..." _Ichigo thought.

As Ichigo got up she heard another loud bang. But this time it was from Kisshu as he punched the glass in the door. It took a moment for her to realise that he was trying to break the door. There was another loud clashing noise and bits of broken glass fell. To Ichigo's horror, some seemed to be stuck in his hands. Blood dripped down from his arms, splashing to the ground and creating a small pool of crimson.


	22. Short But Sweet

"Kisshu!" Ichigo screamed, running up to him. She tried have a look at his arm but Kisshu only snatched it away from her.

"I am fine."

Kisshu pointed at the broken door. It wasn't open but the top bit was broken which was enough for them to get it open. As Kisshu opened the door, Ichigo stared at the broken pieces of glass on the floor.

"There it's opened," Kisshu said nothing else and walked out of the door.

"Wait!" Ichigo couldn't let him go in that condition. They would definitely be in trouble now after what they did to the door so Ichigo's first thoughts were to get out and get Kisshu to treat his hand.

"Kisshu, please stop!" Ichigo said running up to him, "Your hand..."

"MY HAND IS FINE!" Kisshu shouted.

Ichigo nearly jumped. His calm face slowly contorted into raging fury. His eyes didn't blink. It was that movement - or no movement at all - that made Ichigo more fearful of him. Ichigo didn't know what to say. He said nothing and each passing minute kept taunting Ichigo. She tried to say something but stopped herself every time, scared that he might have another one of his anger fits if she says something wrong. If she says anything at all.

"Kisshu...Please let me have a look at your hand..." Ichigo said quietly, her eyes didn't leave him in case he suddenly became violent or did something else unexpected. Ichigo felt like she was trying to comfort a raging tiger. Nothing seemed to be working.

"There is nothing to see, just go," Kisshu said harshly.

Ichigo gulped and slowly walked towards him, "I am sorry I said that about you, just let me see your hand..."

"What difference will it make to you? You don't even care!" This time Kisshu's voice sounded angrier.

"I do care!" Ichigo yelled. She gasped the moment she said that and instantly looked away.

There was another long silence.

Ichigo could feel Kisshu staring at her for a while before she felt him holding her chin so she faced her upwards. Kisshu's face seemed to be much calmer, like it changed completely. Ichigo would expect herself to feel less nervous now that Kisshu also calmed down but she didn't feel any different around him. Ichigo's face flushed with embarrassment and she got ready to leave. Luckily for her, it wouldn't take much effort because she soon heard another voice.

"Kisshu what are you doing?" Taruto asked.

Kisshu let go of Ichigo and turned around. Mint, Lettuce and Taruto were standing.

"Ichigo where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!" Lettuce cried.

"This idiot disappeared," Mint explained, "And I couldn't find her anywhere.

"Hang on, what happened to your hand?" Taruto asked, confused for a moment.

Both Mint's and Lettuce's attention switched to Kisshu's hand. When they realised that it was covered in blood, they both gasped in shock and looked back at Ichigo, demanding for an explanation.

"Ichigo, what happened?" Lettuce asked, with a concerned look.

"This little bastard locked us in that room, that's what happened," Kisshu answered the question for Ichigo.

Taruto laughed, "I only wanted to lock Kisshu in but then for some reason she went inside too," Taruto said pointing at Ichigo, "It was too late, I tried to warn her and tell her not to go in but she seemed to be too deaf to listen. It was already too late to get her out so I locked both of them inside instead."

"When were you planning to get them out?" Mint asked with her arms crossed.

"I put a key on the floor inside that room. All they had to do is find it and open the door."

Ichigo's eyes widened and Kisshu looked infuriated. They didn't find the key. Taruto went inside the room and came back with a key and showed it to them, "It was right there. I didn't think it would take this long to figure it out and-"

Taruto cut himself off when he remembered something important, "Man, you broke the door! What the hell...? how did you find such a difficult way to get out?"

"Well, Kisshu _is_ the best person on Earth at controlling his anger," Ichigo said sarcastically, ignoring Kisshu's death stare that he gave afterwards.

"Kisshu we need to get your hand bandaged," Taruto said taking him out, "Pai is gonna be furious..."

"Well this was very interesting. Now I should be going," Mint sighed, "Now that we know Ichigo isn't dead, I can go back and get work done in peace."

When everyone was gone, Lettuce smiled at Ichigo, "Come on, Ichigo. I know where the exit door is, we should go too."

Ichigo didn't say anything but nodded in agreement. She followed Lettuce out and felt relieved that it was all finally over. After a quick promise to herself that she was never going get in a haunted house of any sort ever again, she just about managed to ignore everything that happened and enjoyed the rest of the school trip.

* * *

Soon, when it was all over, everyone started going back their own way home. Ichigo waved goodbye to Lettuce and Pudding, who even though didn't get to join them on the trip, seemed happy and energetic all the same when she saw them. Ichigo walked along with a big crowd of other students who chattered excitedly and laughed among themselves. As the crowd cleared, Ichigo started walking home by herself. It was getting dark and Ichigo told herself that she should get home quickly or her parents would start getting worried.

"Why do you always pretend that you don't care when you do?"

Ichigo jumped in fright when she heard someone's voice all of a sudden. The quiet whisper of Kisshu's was enough for Ichigo to break her away from her random daydreams. She stopped walking when she saw Kisshu. She liked to think as she walked, but these days, she always seemed to be getting interrupted by what she felt were useless things (Kisshu).

Ichigo was about to tell him to get lost and that she wasn't bothered to deal with him after such a long day, but she the memories of what happened at the haunted house stopped her and decided that it wasn't a good time to argue.

"How is you hand?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu smiled, "See? You do care."

"Stop being stupid and answer my question."

"It's fine," Kisshu answered, "It really is. We went to the hospital, there were no broken bits stuck inside so it wasn't anything serious. They just put some cream and put bandages on. Pai was angry afterwards though. He kept saying I was careless and stupid."

Ichigo gave a small nod, "That's good. Glad you're ok."

"I answered your question, now answer mine."

Ichigo sighed, "I really have to go. Take care of yourself."

"No, you aren't going anywhere," Kisshu said as he pulled her into a tight but a comfortable hug, "I am sorry."

"I am sorry about what happened at Miyuki's birthday party, the canteen and today. I am sorry I shouted at you," he continued, "Have I really messed up so much that we can't go back?"

"Yes, you have," Ichigo said, pushing him away, "Why can't you understand that I don't want to be around you anymore?"

Kisshu was about to say something but Ichigo wasn't finished.

"Don't you understand that because of what you've done, I won't be able to trust anyone again?! You just don't get it!"

"Don't say that..."

"Get this through your thick skull and into your brain: I don't want to have anything to do with you, ok? But you keep following me everywhere I go and now it's just getting too much!"

"But you still like me. I know you do. You get angry every time you hear Miyuki's name. You can't stand her because you want to be in her place. You were so worried when I hurt my hand today, I saw your face."

"For your information, I can't stand Miyuki because she is an attention-seeker who cares about no one other than herself. You don't know how rude she is to Lettuce and she pretended to be my friend just so she could watch me get humiliated in front of everyone, just like you. You are no different! And it doesn't matter what feelings I have for you because a relationship only forms when two people love each other. You don't love or care about me and my feelings."

"Oh I see the misunderstanding here," Kisshu said tightening his grip around her, "Does it really look like I don't care about you? Then let me just clear all your misunderstandings," he whispered.

Then, with one swift movement, the moment their eyes locked and Ichigo stopped struggling, Kisshu closed the gap between their lips into a long, passionate kiss. Soft, yet urgent. Gentle yet desperate. And for a moment, they both forgot everything that happened between them. The negative thoughts about each other and painful memories. All gone. Just for a few seconds. Just for a short, yet sweet moment.


	23. Deafening Silence

_"So um...I think I should get going now," she whispered when Kisshu let go._

_"Not yet," Kisshu said gently stroking her hair._

_"But-"_

_"Listen to me for a minute. Just hear me out, please."_

_Ichigo gave a small nod, "Okay."_

_"Please give me another chance. I want to be with you."_

_Ichigo said nothing for a while._

_"I will never hurt you again. I've never felt like this before. Ichigo, I'm not as bad as you think, I won't hurt you."_

_"You know I can't," Ichigo replied after a long moment of silence._

_"Why not? We all make mistakes," Kisshu said, holding her shoulders tightly, "I made one stupid mistake and I am trying to fix it. Why aren't you helping me fix it?"_

_"I can't help you fix anything. This isn't going to fix anything, Kisshu..."_

_"I love being around you," he said desperately. _

_It hurt Ichigo seeing him in that state but at the same time a tiny part of her felt happy to see him that he cared that much. That he realised his mistake and now regretted it. It wasn't something she felt proud of, of course - too see him in pain and regret - but it was difficult for her to forget what he had done before. How could someone who hated her so much suddenly fall in love with her? Ichigo believed him once, she gave him a chance and he broke it. What if he breaks it again?_

_"How do I know you're not pretending?"_

_"I am not pretending, I swear," Kisshu said defensively, "Look into my eyes and tell me. Do I look like I am pretending?"_

_Ichigo looked up. He didn't look like he was pretending. But he didn't look like he was pretending before either. Her mind was fighting with herself, trying to to think of what to do. After an argument with herself she came to the conclusion that it would be best to just leave and think about this later. _

_Ichigo shook her head, "I don't believe you."_

_Kisshu stared at her blankly. _

_"Goodbye Kisshu," Ichigo whispered, "I am sorry," __Ichigo quickly wiped a tear from her eyes and ran._

_"ICHIGO!"_

* * *

Ichigo mentally slapped herself as she was walking, "No I can't think about that now!"

Ichigo told herself, louder than she was meant to. When she realised how loudly she shouted at the supermarket and how everyone was staring at her, she became even more embarrassed.

_"Well done, Ichigo..."_

Ichigo quickly looked at the shopping list her mum made for her earlier this morning. She looked around for a moment. She couldn't stop thinking about Kisshu. Could she have been too harsh on him? But she couldn't just ignore what he did to her. And besides, she needs to concentrate on her studies right now. She doesn't have time to think about these things. Exams were coming up in a few months time, she couldn't afford to do badly. That whole night, after she ran off like that, she had been thinking about her current situation and thinking of what to do next. To help her make a decision, she made a pro and con list. That way, whichever side had most of the points, that would be the action she would take.

The bad things about saying yes/getting together with Kisshu:

1\. He hurt him once, he could easily leave her again.

2\. He has a reputation of being an idiot, which is pretty much the same thing as the first point. In fact, he may still be one.

3\. He is or was in a relationship with Miyuki - not someone she would want to get involved with.

4\. He could be lying, in that case she would make a fool of herself again.

5\. She should be concentrating on studying, thinking about Kisshu would only waste time.

Then there were the good things of saying yes. Well there was only one good thing: Kisshu. She would get Kisshu. Which pretty much rules everything on the 'bad list' out...

"Get this one, it tastes better."

"Huh? What?" Ichigo stopped daydreaming and looked around, "Now what are you doing here?"

"I am only shopping and giving you a friendly advice on what to buy," Kisshu replied giving a shrug.

"Oh my god, get out of here!"

"This isn't your shop for you to tell me to leave."

"Fine, then. I am going!" Ichigo said stubbornly. She would do her shopping somewhere else.

Kisshu gave a small laugh and told her to wait but Ichigo didn't listen. She ran for a while and when she was tired and started panting, she looked around to see if he was there. She took little notice of where she was going and when she saw that he was gone, she gave a sigh of relief and smiled. But her smile soon faded as she realised a car was approaching her with great speed. The car rolled over and made a loud beeping noise for warning but it was all too late. The tyres screeched which was followed by a desperate scream from Ichigo. Her thoughts went flying like crazy but there was little time to think. There was little time to do anything. The world became a faint dot, small and blurry like it wasn't there to begin with.

Then for a short moment, there was only silence. A painful and a deafening type of silence.


	24. At The Hospital

**Hey guys! I wasn't planning to update today but I thought that I am probably going to be busy for the next few days so I might just as well write something today. Sorry about the last chapter, don't worry there's a reason for what happened in the end, it and it will make more sense in this chapter. Thank you fore reviewing and reading! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you with the patient in room 156?" A short, thin lady asked holding a few papers in her hand. Most likely to be a nurse in the hospital.

"Yes," Pai nodded, standing up as he saw her walking up to them.

"The doctor is inside the room doing a few check-ups. Only one of you may visit and you'll be told all of the details about the patient's health when you go inside."

"I will go first," Pai said turning around to Lettuce and Taruto.

"Tell us what's happening when you're back," Lettuce whispered.

"Yeah," Taruto said in agreement.

Pai gave a quick nod and entered the room, "How is he?" Pai asked, closing the door.

"He has not woken up yet...One minute..." The doctor quickly wrote something down in a few sheets of paper. When he was finished, his attention was on Pai again.

"Right, yes! Now like I said, the surgery went successfully."

"Right, that's good," Pai said giving a sigh of relief.

"Luckily, his injuries aren't so bad, the driver must have stopped quickly enough. Did he run into the road unexpectedly?"

"Yes, he's so careless..."

"All I can say is that he survived so there is nothing to worry about," He said with a smile, "You bought him in here just in time, but it may take a few hours for him to get conscious again, he still should get some more rest after he wakes up though so he will stay in the hospital for a few days. Until he is well enough to get up and walk properly at least."

"I understand," Pai sighed, looking at Kisshu.

_"You idiot. Don't you know anything else but how to get in trouble?" _Pai thought, _"Lucky bastard, you survived today, but that doesn't mean you will in the future..."_

* * *

Lettuce, Taruto and Ichigo were impatiently waiting outside. Mint and Pudding came in afterwards, with a worried look on their faces.

"Ichigo?" Lettuce put her hand on her shoulders when she noticed a few tears in her best friend's eyes.

"This is my fault..." She whispered.

"It's not your fault na no da!" Pudding said, trying to comfort her.

But Ichigo ignored the two of them and burst into tears, "Yes it is!" She cried, "Yes it is..."

"He is going to be fine," Mint said, "We bought him in time and there is nothing else we could've done."

"But he's in this state because of me! It's all because of me!"

"Why the hell did you even run in front of a car, you old hag?!" Taruto asked angrily, "If anything happens to my brother, I swear..."

"Hey! Don't be such a meanie na no da!" Pudding shouted, "It's because of Ichigo-chan that your stupid brother is going to be alive today na no da. Can you imagine what would happen if she was too late na no da?"

"Pudding is right, this isn't Kisshu's nor Ichigo's fault. Even the driver didn't mean to do was an accident. Yes they were pretty careless but blaming people and making them feel even worse is just pointless right now!" Lettuce said in Ichigo's defence.

"No he's right. I...I should have been more careful..."

"Ok both of you just shut up! For god's sake, we don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves," Mint replied, "There's no point."

Soon, Pai came out. Everyone was relieved when he said that he was going to be alright. Mint, Pudding and Lettuce decided to leave an hour later. Ichigo insisted that she stayed for longer, just in case Kisshu woke up. Taruto and Pai stayed with Ichigo.

"He did say it would take a few hours, we should go. We will come back when he wakes up," Pai told Taruto.

"But how can we just leave?" Taruto asked.

"You had nothing to eat the whole day, one idiot is already in hospital, now you'll end up there too if you stop looking after yourself. Let's go and get something to eat, we'll be back when we are finished.

"Fine."

Taruto stood up, ready to leave with Pai. When Pai was about to leave, Pai remembered about Ichigo.

"What do we do about her?" He asked, pointing his eyes at Ichigo.

"Nothing," Taruto replied.

Pai rolled his eyes, "Miss Ichigo," he called.

Ichigo looked up when she heard her name being mentioned.

"You should go home and rest. Would you like us to drop you home?"

Ichigo shook her head, "No, it's ok, I already told my parents it would take a while so they don't expect me back until a few more hours. I will phone them when I want to go home. They will come and pick me up."

Pai nodded, "But you should eat something, would you like us to bring something for you?"

"Why waste money on her?" Taruto whispered to Pai.

"No that's fine, thank you," Ichigo answered.

"We'll just bring her some pizza or something," Pai whispered as he left with Taruto following behind him.

Ichigo gave another sigh. Ichigo couldn't believe what had happened. The car accident only happened about a few days ago, he as been in hospital since. Her parents were horrified when they found out what happened and so they agreed to let her go and visit him today. He had been unconscious for a long while. She was only trying to run away from Kisshu. She didn't know something like that was about to happen. She didn't see where she was running, there was nothing there before. Before she knew it, someone was driving towards her and-

She would've died. Thinking about it seems so stupid. Dying from such a careless action, easily avoidable and yet with such drastic consequences. She would've been in Kisshu's place but the moment when she was meant to feel the car hit her - God knows how painful that would have felt - instead, she felt two strong arms push her out of the way. Kisshu's arms. It all happened much too quickly. A part of her died when she looked to see who saved her life, instead of feeling relieved for not getting run over, she felt suffocated inside. She felt sick. To see him in the place, she could've lost him just like that. If only they drove a little faster or if the driver didn't apply the brakes in time, he would be...

No. She couldn't dare to think of what would happen. She just couldn't. But at least now she knows he's going to be fine. At least...

In between her thoughts, Ichigo realised something else. Something else which started to make a little more sense to her. The haunted house, the car crash, the kiss, Miyuki's birthday party, when he first saw Kisshu walking along the corridor on her first day of school, the time she punched him in the canteen and the time he pretended to apologise to her and even decorated a garden with flowers. Whatever happened, the truth was, she couldn't ever forget him. All of the memories she had of him, no matter how bad, she couldn't stay away from him. That's why she felt that way when she thought he had lost him forever. She couldn't see him get hurt. Hurting him would only hurt herself more.

"It's ok, Kisshu," she whispered, "I am not going to let anything happen to you."


	25. Head Girl

Ichigo walked to school early that day. There was about 15 minutes left before her first lesson started. She decided to go to the library, if she was lucky Lettuce would be there too and she wouldn't have to be alone.

"Ichigo-chan!" Pudding yelled excitedly, waving at her.

"Pudding! Where's Lettuce?"

"Library na no da?"

"I don't know I haven't checked, come with me I am really bored."

Pudding nodded, "Ichigo-chan, Kisshu has woken up at the hospital na no da, how is he now?" Pudding her as she walked with Ichigo.

"Yes, I know," Ichigo replied, "He woke up about...When did he...?"

"About two weeks ago na no da," Pudding told her.

"Yeah, I went to see him three days ago."

"Really? Did you talk to him na no da?"

"No, he was sleeping. I couldn't disturb him, and besides, Sakiko was there with him."

"Ichigo-chan...I think he would really want to talk to you na no da."

"I will talk to him once he is better. Besides, his family would hate me being so close to him, especially after I was the one to blame for his condition..." Ichigo sighed.

"Don't be silly, the accident wasn't your fault na no da! Pudding knows you miss him na no da!"

Ichigo blushed a little, "No, it's not like that. I just feel really bad..."

"Ichigo-chan should be happy that someone cares for her enough to save her from something like that na no da," Pudding smiled.

Ichigo smiled back, "Well..."

Ichigo was trying to think of what to say but her mind was interrupted when she say Miyuki, Misaki and Minako walk towards them. Misaki and Minako whispered something to each other once they saw Ichigo, but Miyuki's eyes were stuck to Ichigo. She gave her a glare.

Ichigo gulped and looked at Pudding. She had been trying to avoid them for a few weeks. She didn't have time to deal with them and didn't want to get involved with them right now. They weren't good people, she would just get herself some sort of trouble if they see her.

"Let's go na no da..." Pudding whispered to Ichigo.

Ichigo nodded. She avoided eye contact with the three of them and tried to walk past them when Miyuki yelled at her and told her to stop.

"HEY!" Miyuki shouted.

Ichigo and Pudding stopped walking and looked at her.

"Kisshu is in the hospital, is this true?" She asked, her voice much quieter.

Pudding and Ichigo looked at each other for about a second and slowly gave a nod. Miyuki walked closer to them, she observed Ichigo.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I didn't do anything..." Ichigo started.

"DON'T LIE TO ME, YOU SLUT!" Miyuki screamed.

"What do you want?" Ichigo said angrily. She didn't want to deal with this right in the morning.

"Ichigo-chan didn't do anything na no da!" Pudding cried.

"I know you have something to do with it! You were there, Pai and Taruto told me everything!"

"It's not my fault..."

"My Kisshu jumped in front of a car for you and you ungrateful bitch! How dare you do something like that to him?"

"I..." Ichigo was about to say something back but stopped herself. She had a point. How could she argue with her when she knew she was right? It was her fault. If she didn't run into the road, Kisshu wouldn't have to come and save her.

"Miyuki, let it go!" A girl with bright, purple hair said walking in with Mint.

"Zakuro-san..." Miyuki whispered.

Ichigo turned around to see who it was. Ichigo didn't remember seeing her before.

"That's Zakuro. She's a senior and head girl in her year. Pai and Miyuki are the head boy and girl so she knows him and is friends with Kisshu and his family. Too much to explain, I will tell you later," Mint whispered to Ichigo. Ichigo only nodded, even though she was still a little confused.

"I know exactly what happened, it wasn't this girl's fault. If a teacher hears you screaming in the corridors, you will be in trouble, just leave," Zakuro said, calmly, "And you should go too," She said looking at Ichigo.

Ichigo looked at Pudding and left with her. Zakuro said something else to Miyuki when Ichigo was leaving but she was too scared to turn around and listen to what they were saying. Instead, she thought it would be better to just ignore everything that happened and leave.

"Ignore Miyuki na no da," Pudding told her. But Ichigo didn't seem to be listening, she was too lost in her own thoughts to be listening to anyone that moment.

* * *

"Miyuki, what's wrong with you?" Misaki asked once Zakuro and Mint left.

Miyuki groaned in frustration, "That girl..."

"You need to be more careful, we can't waste time on the useless girl," Minako told her.

"I just don't understand why Kisshu would go and save that girl!" Miyuki said, angrily.

"Miyuki..." Misaki held her shoulder, trying to comfort her but she only pulled away.

"Why is Kisshu giving so much attention to her? Why would he risk his life to save her?"

"It's probably nothing," Misaki shrugged.

"It's not nothing! Kisshu would never do something like that for anyone!"

"Hm...That's true..."

There is definitely something going on..." Miyuki whispered, "And I have to find out what it is..."

* * *

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in!" The teacher said, as she wrote something on the board.

The tall girl with purple hair came inside. Ichigo looked up and stopped writing notes once she saw her come in. It was the same girl who stood up to her this morning. Miyuki went quiet once she saw her come in. Ichigo wondered what she was doing coming in to the lesson like that.

"Oh Zakuro! Yes, what is it?"

"Is Miss Ichigo Momomiya in this class?" She asked.

Everyone turned to look at Ichigo, whose eyes widened when she heard her name being mentioned.

"Yes she is."

"Mr Kayama would like to see her. Can she come to his office straight away?"

"Yes she can, Ichigo, you may go."

Ichigo gave a small nod and slowly got up.

"Bring your books with you. The lesson is probably going to finish by the time you're back so there's no point," Zakuro told her.

Ichigo nodded and started packing her bag. Everyone watched her leave out of the classroom. What could Mr Kayama want now? Was she in trouble? What did she do? Did it have anything to do with what happened this morning? Does Zakuro know anything? Should she ask her? What was happening? Millions of thoughts ran through Ichigo's head and she forced herself to ignore them once she realised she was at his office. Her heart skipped a beat once she saw that Miyuki was there in his office already. Now, Ichigo felt even more nervous.

"Hello Miss Ichigo, please take a seat."

Ichigo saw Miyuki roll her eyes when he said her name but Ichigo took little notice and smiled at Mr Kayama instead.

"Right, Miss Ichigo, are you familiar with the school's head girl and boy system?"

Ichigo thought for a moment. She remembered Mint mention it this morning but knew very little about it. Ichigo shook her head in reply.

"A boy and a girl at every year group, juniors and seniors, are appointed to be the head boy and girl every year. The top five people with the highest grades get chosen by teachers. Of course their homework quality, participation in school and various other factors are also taken into consideration. When they are chosen, other students are asked to vote and choose who they want to become their school's head boy and girl. The boy and girl with the highest votes get chosen to be head girl."

Ichigo and Miyuki listened quietly.

"The head boy and girl are given various responsibilities around school and they take part in meetings to change various aspects of the school. If there is anything a student doesn't like about the school, they are asked to speak to these people so they can put their ideas forward in the next meeting."

Ichigo nodded.

"This year, I wanted to do things a little differently, I would like to choose the head girl for this your year group myself."

Miyuki's eyes widened.

"Miss Ichigo, I would like you to become head girl."

"Wait, what? I...But the the head students were already chosen!" Miyuki exclaimed.

"Yes, I know. But I would like to give this responsibility to Ichigo. I think this will be a great opportunity for her to take part in school life more and get involved. But that doesn't mean you have done anything wrong, you've been doing greatly and I would like you to keep up with your good work."

"But sir..."

"You have been head girl in previous years. I would like to give chances to different students."

"I understand. I am sure Ichigo will do a great job," Miyuki gave a smile which Ichigo could tell was a hundred per cent fake. No doubt about it.

"Will you please hand her the badge?"

Miyuki took off the badge from her blazer and handed it to Ichigo.

"Wear it with pride," Mr Kayama smiled, "I will tell you when your next meeting is. You may leave now."

Miyuki was out of the room before Ichigo. Ichigo was confused for a moment. What was happening? She gave a sigh and looked at her watch. It was lunch time and the buzzer would ring in a few minutes. There was no point in going back to her lesson, but Ichigo had nowhere else to go so she walked towards her lesson anyway. She looked at the badge Mr Kayama gave her. It had the school's logo in it which was shining brightly. She put it away in her pocket and was about to leave when she heard footsteps walking beside her.

"So how has my little kitty-cat been doing?"

Ichigo gasped, when she heard Kisshu's voice.

He smirked.


	26. Will You Be Mine?

**Ok so this chapter is shorter than the last few ones, but at least I've been updating more often than usual, I updated yesterday as well. So yeah...To be honest, I wanted to write this chapter for chapter 25 but I instead I had this idea to make the story longer so Ichigo becomes head girl instead in chapter 25. Lol...Miyuki isn't happy, is she? Anyways I have to get Ichigo and Kisshu together, it's been 25 chapters, they can't still hate each other! So here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy! **

* * *

Ichigo's lips formed a sweet smile when she saw him. His face looked paler than before but he didn't look too unwell. He looked like he had a scratch in his neck, but apart from that, he looked normal.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Kisshu asked.

"I am fine," Ichigo answered, "Are you okay?"

"Never felt better!" Kisshu grinned.

There were so many things Ichigo felt like she needed to tell him, things she kept bottled up inside when he was in the hospital. But now that he was right in front of her, her mind went blank and she couldn't think of a single word to say. How did he come to school, shouldn't he still be in the hospital? Did they really let him go this quickly? Maybe Ichigo was just dreaming...

"What's wrong? You are really quiet," Kisshu pointed out, "Do you want me to leave?"

Ichigo shook her head, "No, nothing like that..."

"Then what is it? You look upset."

"No," Ichigo gave him another smile, just to show him that she wasn't feeling unhappy, "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I am fine," he reassured.

"Am I dreaming?"

Kisshu laughed. He took her hand and gave it a kiss, "Nope, it's real."

Ichigo blushed but made no effort in hiding it, "There's so many things I wanted to tell you..."

"Then tell me."

"I don't know what to say... Or where to start."

"Well it's lunchtime, how about you come outside with me and talk?"

Ichigo nodded, "Ok."

They walked down the stairs and outside the school. They walked outside and sat at a nearby bench where it was quieter and less crowded.

"Sit down," Kisshu pulled her down to the bench and made her sit next to him, "So talk to me now."

"No, you start."

"Fine, the hospital was boring. The food in there is disgusting and I was basically in bed all day. So nothing exciting. Your turn."

"Well..." Ichigo took the badge out of her pocket and showed it to Kisshu, "I just got the weirdest news from Mr Kayama today, I am the head girl apparently."

"What?" Kisshu laughed, "How did you become...?"

"He said he wanted me to become head girl for some reason, but I replaced Miyuki...So she's not very happy..."

"It's actually no big deal. They make it sound exciting but you don't actually do anything. I was in it last year."

"Hm..."

"But it's cool, congratulations you became Mr Kayama's favourite student."

Ichigo laughed, "He's so weird! Too nice and formal...Sometimes makes you want to punch him in the face."

Kisshu burst out laughing, "Too right."

"Anyway, so...I guess that's it. You missed an exam, wasn't too important, and loads of homework...And, yeah..."

Kisshu nodded.

"Um...Kisshu...I have to ask you something," Ichigo said more seriously, "It's about the car accident...Why did you do that?"

Kisshu stopped laughing too, "What do you mean?"

"Why did you do it? I was so worried. You nearly killed yourself..." Ichigo whispered.

"Don't be stupid. How could I let anything happen to you? Besides, It's not like I am dead."

"Stop taking this lightly!" Ichigo said angrily, "Don't ever do that again! I can't stand watching you get hurt..."

"I can't stand watching you get hurt either," Kisshu said quietly.

Kisshu didn't say anything for a while.

"You know...I've been thinking..." Ichigo started, "If...If the offer's still on the table," Ichigo paused for a few seconds to see if Kisshu was listening, "I want to...I want us to get back together..."

Kisshu's eyes widened and his face turned to her. He still said nothing.

"Just for a while to see...If it works out...But real this time. No pretending," Ichigo stared at him waiting for some sort of response, "Kisshu? Please say something..."

Kisshu grinned, "I did say you couldn't stay away from me, didn't I?"

He held her chin and pointed it up, "You want to know something? I can't either. I know you're implicitly asking me if I love you."

Ichigo blushed a darker shade of red.

"And I do. This time, I am not pretending, I promise. So let me ask _you_ something now," Kisshu placed his forehead against her's.

"Will you be mine?" he whispered.

"Yes."


	27. First Fight

"Yes, you will get the money tomorrow," Kisshu felt a little restless as he talked on the phone, "No, of course not!"

He exclaimed trying not lose his temper, which was quickly running short.

"Ok, let me dumb this down for you, I will pay you the whole thing by tomorrow and you just need to make sure that everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - is arranged and done like I told you to. Do you understand or do I need to repeat myself?"

"Ok, good. One last thing, I will-"

Kisshu quickly hid behind the tree when she saw Ichigo walking by. He smiled and his frustration quickly faded.

"Ok I will talk to you tomorrow, bye."

Kisshu cut the call and put his phone away.

_"Didn't think you would be here today...Oh well, I guess it's my lucky day," _Kisshu thought, giving his lips a quick lick.

* * *

Ichigo sighed as she strolled around the park. She needed some fresh air, some place to think and away from everyone else. Was she doing the right thing by giving him a second chance? The fear of him betraying her again didn't disappear as of yet. She needed to think through things carefully and sort all her thoughts out. One problem at a time. What was about him that keeps catching her attention? He hurt and humiliated her. So why did she still feel the need to be around him? Every time she tried to think about it, her brain seems to keep reminding her of the words he said.

_'This time, I am not pretending, I promise. So let me ask you something...Will you be mine?"_

Ichigo shook her head.

_"No. He nearly died for me. He's not like that."_

Ichigo repeated that sentence a few times to calm herself down. She left the park and started to walk towards the quieter streets.

"Well, I guess that's enough for today, better head home now," Ichigo told herself.

"Why? Leaving already?"

Her voice echoed in Ichigo's ears. No, not this again...

"Miyuki..."

"That's right," She gave a wicked smile.

"What do you want?"

"No I think I should be asking you this question, Ichigo," She replied, "What is it that you want?"

Miyuki circled around her and eyed her from top to bottom, "I mean, look at you. Some poor attention seeker who seems to want everything."

She stopped walking and stared right at her, "And yet, you have nothing at all."

"Please stop with all this..."

"I am not doing anything, Ichigo. You're the one who did all this. You kinda asked for it."

"Listen..."

"No, you listen!" Miyuki raised her voice, "Don't you dare think for a moment that I don't know what you're doing!"

"I am not doing anything."

"Did you really think that Kisshu loves you?"

Ichigo looked away when she asked.

"He's acting, it's all a lie! How could you think that someone like him would want to even look at a girl like you. Look at him and then look at you! He has everything. Money, good-looks and fame. What do you have, Ichigo?"

Ichigo stared at her, speechless.

"Even if he did see something in you, do you think his family would approve of you?"

She hadn't thought of that.

"Stop being so full of yourself and go chase some other guy. You can't take him away from me, do you know how much I love him?"

"I don't know how much you love him exactly but you can never love him more than I do."

"How dare you?!"

Miyuki raised her hand and Ichigo jumped in fear. She kept her eyes shut tight and after a long second, she wondered why she didn't feel a slap across her face.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kisshu asked, holding Miyuki's arm.

"Kisshu?" Miyuki asked shocked.

Ichigo was surprised to see him as well.

"I asked you a question, answer it," Kisshu demanded.

Miyuki didn't say anything.

"Don't try to touch her again."

"Why? You didn't seem to care about her a few months a go. So why does it matter now?"

Ichigo was tired of all this. She couldn't handle it anymore.

"You guys have fun, I should go," Ichigo said quietly.

"Wait, what? Ichigo wait!"

"Let her go," Miyuki said, holding his hand, "She doesn't care about you Kisshu, just let her go."

"Don't touch me!" Kisshu pulled his hand away from her.

Ichigo was gone.

"Kisshu, what is wrong with you? What happened? Whatever it is, please tell me. We can solve this together."

"Yeah you're right, we can," Kisshu nodded, "So how about this? Let's break up."

There was a long silence afterwards.

"W...What?"

"You're equally at fault in this, I saw you kissing another guy last time."

"So you're just ending it like that?"

"I am not ending anything Miyuki, you know that there was nothing between us from the beginning. We were just having some fun and that's it. I don't have time to talk to you right now. You had your fun and both of us knew that it wasn't going to last."

Kisshu sighed, "Bye Miyuki."

And with that, he left.

* * *

"Ichigo, wait!" Kisshu shouted as he ran towards her.

"Go away."

"Ichigo, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, go away."

Ichigo sped up her pace, hoping he would listen to her for once. Of couse, he didn't. Kisshu held her arm and pulled towards him to stop her walking. He was about to say something but he realised there were tears in her eyes.

"Ichigo, are you ok?" His voice became softer, "It'll be fine."

Ichigo shook her head, "It won't be fine, Kisshu. Nothing is fine."

"What do you mean?"

"We have to stop this."

"Stop what?"

"I never realised it..."

"Can you please tell me what is going on?" Kisshu's anger started to come back up, "Miyuki won't be saying anything to you now. I broke up with her."

"This isn't about Miyuki."

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about us. It's not going to work. This is all-"

"Stop right there, just stop. What are you talking about?"

"Kisshu, you and I are very different people, we won't be able to be together!" Ichigo screamed as more tears streamed down her face.

"Why not? You said-"

"I know what I said...I know. But please look at us for a second. You have everything and I have absolutely nothing. I can't give you anything. Everything about us is different. Our lives are different, our worlds are different."

"I don't get it."

"You're standing right next to me, and yet so far away," she whispered, "We were never together from the start. We're world and worlds apart..."

"You think you're not good enough for me...Is that it? Is that what Miyuki told you?"

"This isn't about-"

"I know what this is about!" This time it was him who couldn't control his anger anymore.

"I can die for you and you're here thinking about other people? If you loved me at all, you would never say something like that."

Ichigo was a little taken aback. He had a point. Did she really love him at all? Why was everything so complicated? She felt unsure what was right and what was wrong. She didn't know what to do anymore.

"But..."

"Even if you had no money, I wouldn't care. I would still love you. I don't care about anyone else."

"I might just cause problems for you. I won't be able to give you anything," Ichigo whispered.

"You can give me love, and that's all I need."

What was she thinking? She believed Miyuki and jumped into conclusions too quickly. How could she lose her temper so easily? But she was scared of everything that was happening. His words sounded more than sincere. There was nothing there but the truth. She felt so certain but confused at the same time. Kisshu wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly as if his life depended on it. Ichigo took one look at his eyes and all her fears faded away and that wonderful feeling came back. That same feeling she felt when they kissed.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated?"

"If you just forgot about wealth and our status for a moment, then you would see two people who love each other. And there's nothing wrong or complicated in that. You're the one who said that I wasn't better than anyone else. So why would you think you weren't good enough for me?"

"I don't know...I am sorry, I shouldn't have said all those things," Ichigo admitted, "But if you think about it, that was our first fight as a couple," Ichigo smiled.

Kisshu gave a small laugh. He pulled her closer and felt even more relieved when Ichigo too placed her arms around his neck. After a few seconds, Kisshu remembered his main plan.

"I have an idea," Kisshu whispered, "Let's go on a date."


	28. A Rule

Ichigo ignored the beeping noise of her phone as she slowly brushed her hair. She received dozens of text messages from Kisshu that morning and she didn't want to waste her time reading any more of his cheesy text messages. After a few minutes the noise became much too annoying for her ears so she picked up the phone, giving a groan of frustration. She violently tapped her fingers in the phone at a rapid pace.

_Can you stop sending me a million messages?! You're giving my phone a heart attack! I am not done getting ready yet and our date doesn't start until an hour so there's loads of time left. Shut up for a minute and let me get changed at least. *angry face*_

_Beep!_

_Aww...I get it, you want to look pretty for me. Sorry kitty cat, I'll let you get changed then. Don't be late, bye! _

Ichigo rolled her eyes.

_Shut up monkey face. And I am not your kitty cat._

_Beep!_

_I see my sexy princess is getting angry. _

Ichigo gave up and just left her phone on silent mode before placing her attention on her hair.

After half an hour later Ichigo was ready to go. She placed her phone in her bag and left her house early. Who knows what he will do if she was late...? Ichigo dialled Kisshu's number as she walked and placed it next to her ear. He picked it up disturbingly quickly.

"Hello?" Ichigo spoke, "I am here but I can't see you anywhere. Where are you?"

"Right here," Kisshu said pulling her arm, "You didn't reply to my texts."

Ichigo smiled and put her phone away. She gave him another smile as he took her hand and led her to the train station.

"You were being annoying."

"I don't want to say 'I told you so' but I did say I was going to make you mine eventually," Kisshu said with a wink.

"Ok, so before we go any further, I need to put a rule on the table," Ichigo let go of Kisshu hand started using majestic hand movements as if that would make her explanations clearer. Kisshu rolled his eyes and sighed before giving pointing his chin upwards to ask her what they were.

"Ok, so because we're starting everything anew and everything's back to the beginning...That means..."

"That means?" Kisshu looked up, finally showing some interest in their conversation.

"It means no touching or any sort of weird physical contact."

"What?"

"I am just trying to be reasonable."

"Reasonable? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously."

"But we kissed before. So why can't we now?" Kisshu said, giving a disappointed look which reminded her of an angry kid who just lost his sweets on the way home.

"I want to do this properly."

"But why can't we just continue with where we left off?"

"Because it was a mess where we left off. I'd rather do everything anew. And even you have to admit, there's not much we know about each other so I want to get to know you better and stuff..." She explained.

"And I want to learn to trust you because...Well, you know you were always a jerk," Ichigo continued.

Kisshu gave a small chuckle and nodded, "Alright. Fine."

"So we're all good?"

"Yeah we're cool."

Ichigo gave a sigh of relief and mentally gave herself a pat in the back. Everything was going perfectly and now she could just relax without having to worry about anything too much.

"So just letting you know, my name is Kisshu Ikisatashi. May I know your name?"

"Wha...?" Ichigo asked, surprised. She giggled a little and decided to play along.

"My name is Ichigo Momomiya."

"Nice to meet you. And let me just point out that you're looking very beautiful."

"Thank you. Where are we going?"

"You said you wanted to know more about me," Kisshu replied, "So today I'll tell you everything about me. No secrets."

A few minutes later Ichigo and Kisshu were walking towards what seemed like a museum. It was crowded and there was a long line of people queueing to get in. Kisshu laughed at Ichigo and took her right to the front of the line where they were given a warm smile by the man standing near the door.

"Mr Ikisatashi, welcome! Please come in," The man said with a quick laugh. Ichigo found it hard to tell whether he was pretending or his smile was sincere but she had no time to think about it as Kisshu had already gone in. So Ichigo ran after him and tried to keep up at his pace.

"How come he let us skip the line?" Ichigo asked, "That was a little unfair for the people who were waiting."

"Oh just relax."

Ichigo and Kisshu walked to a room filled with beautiful paintings. Ichigo listened to Kisshu talk about a lot of them. She had no idea he would be interested in these things and she had no idea they have a date in such a place.

"I used to come here all the time when I was a kid," Kisshu explained, "With my parents. Back when everything was ok and we were happy."

"I see. They are all pretty."

"You must be wondering why I am showing you all this."

"Well, a little bit, yes."

"It's because this place is a big part of my life," Kisshu sighed, "My grandfather was a painter and when he died, some of his paintings were put here. They weren't as popular as the other ones but they were still my favourite."

Ichigo smiled, "Thank you for sharing this with me."

"I remember coming here when I was angry and I would just stare at his paintings," Kisshu told her, "But we aren't done yet, there is one last thing I want to show you."

They walked to a different room which was less crowded and smaller. Kisshu entered first and held the door as Ichigo came in.

"This one is my favourite," Kisshu pointed out.

Ichigo gasped when she saw it. A beautiful painting hung on the wall. Its colours were bright and made a wonderful piece of art. She asked Kisshu if his grandfather painted that too, Kisshu only nodded.

"I can see why it's your favourite, it's really pretty and meaningful."

In the painting, there were a couple holding each other's hands but each one seemed to be fading away. They were both standing on two different worlds and there were people on each side trying to get them to come back.

"I don't like it because it's pretty. I like it because it reminded me of you."

"That's..." Ichigo was at a loss of words, "Thank you."

"See they are both from two different worlds, but their love for each other brings them together."

"That's a little cheesy, but I like it," Ichigo giggled.

"Well that is done, now let's go somewhere else?"

Ichigo and Kisshu spent the rest of the day at an amusement park. They visited Cat Paradise, where Ichigo was welcomed by hundreds of little kittens. She wondered around, laughing and jumping in excitement as if she found her heaven.

"Look that one even looks like you," Ichigo pointed at a little white kitten with a similar golden coloured eyes.

Kisshu laughed, "I didn't know you liked cats so much."

They went on every single ride they saw and they were extremely tired by the time they were finished.

"Ok so the next place if kind of a surprise," Kisshu told her as he quickly got a piece of cloth from his pocket, "Which is why you're going to have to wear this blindfold."

After spending what seemed like forever in a blindfold and walking in boring darkness, Kisshu finally started taking them off. And when he finally did the brightness came much too quickly and for a slight second, Ichigo felt like a little girl unexposed to light, given a candle. She was in a big room filled with lights and there was a table where she guessed they were going to eat. But Ichigo somehow felt like she has been to that place before. Kisshu told her that she was in his house and then things finally started making sense.

"The birthday party, I remember."

They sat down in that table and an awkward silence followed soon after. Ichigo ran out of things to say and Kisshu didn't spoke either.

"Ok so this is the awkward part of the conversation where no one says anything," Kisshu said.

Ichigo laughed, "Well this was nice."

For the rest of the night they talked and Ichigo learnt things about him she never knew. It was hard to hate someone once you understand them. Once you understand what they have gone through and their pain. Of course, Ichigo could only guess how it must have felt to have his parents leave him like that but she understood him much better than before.

"Aren't Pai, Taruto and you sister here?"

"No, they aren't here. Don't worry about them," Kisshu reassured.

"Come, I wanna show you my room."

Ichigo followed Kisshu up the stairs and they went in his room. Then Ichigo saw something she she never expected to see. Her eyes widened and she turned to look at Kisshu for an explanation. Kisshu only smirked.

"What the hell?!"

His room was was covered with pictures of her. There were about ten of them.

"Where did you get those?!"

"Sorry," Kisshu pouted, "I just look at them when I miss you."

"Ok you better take those off!"

"But why? They're just pictures. Please don't get angry," Kisshu said, making his puppy dog face again.

Ichigo rolled her eyes, "Fine, I won't get angry, you can look at them but don't hang them up on your wall. What if someone sees?"

"Who would see? And what would they do? I am not scared of anyone."

Ichigo practically gave up, "You don't need them because now you won't miss me anymore."

Kisshu smiled, "Thank you. For everything."

"So is there anything else you want to show me?"

"No, that's all."

"Ok, so I should be going home now," Ichigo glanced at the clock in his room, "It's getting late."

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

"No it's fine."

And there it was again. An awkward silence.

"So...Um...Bye?" Ichigo started. But Kisshu couldn't control himself and his emotions any longer, he took her shoulders and pulled her into a kiss much too suddenly. He shoved her back so she would fall into his bed and pressed his body against hers. It was intense, he kissed her with one hand touching the soft tangles of her hair and with her hands wrapped around his neck. Ichigo's heart was hammering as if it was about to burst. It was sweet but he moved with urgency, his movements were fierce. His fingers bit into her hip and he only kissed harder once a small moan came out from Ichigo. After a while when Kisshu finally got back to his senses, he let go. The perfect time to catch their breath.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to..." Kisshu breathed heavily.

Ichigo breathed heavily too. She gulped and tried ignored the addictive scent of his body and his hypnotising eyes. She didn't say anything.

"I know we weren't meant to...I am sorry," Kisshu slowly got up, his face filled with guilt.

Ichigo licked her lips and stared into his eyes.

"Come on, say something..."

Ichigo slowly touched his chest and with her other hand, she held his neck to gently pull him down again, "I guess we can make this an exception," Ichigo whispered.

Shocked at her words, he started licking her smooth, silky lips before sliding it inside her mouth once again. And just like that, he broke her only rule.


	29. Kitten

Ichigo started taking her clothes out of her suitcase. She placed them on top of the bed.

"You will be expected to come down in half an hour," she heard someone say. Ichigo gave them a nod and started taking everything out faster.

After about an hour later she was standing outside along with everyone else.

"Now everyone, we will be putting all of you in groups of two!" There was a short lady in front of them, holding a small box. She talked excitedly and there was something about her voice which reminded Ichigo of a mouse. Half the time she would scream in excitement and it sounded just like a mouse that somehow got hold of a mountain of cheese.

"Let's make this interesting," She held the box up in the air to show it to everyone, "Inside there's a small piece of paper with all of your names in it, you will pick one and whoever's name is on that paper, that will be your partner for the next few days!"

At the corner of her eye, Ichigo saw Kisshu give her a wink. There was no way she would be paired up with him! Ichigo took out the piece of paper from the box. There was someone's name in messy handwriting. It was written in inky red, Ichigo had to place it right in front oh her face and squint in order to see it properly.

"Masaya Aoyama..." Ichigo read it aloud. She had never heard of that name before, maybe he was new, or maybe he was was just in different classes as her. But how was that possible? She didn't know any Aoyamas in her year. But then again, she didn't know many people there either. Well, now it was time to find this mysterious person.

"Who did you get?" Kisshu asked.

"Don't worry, it's not you," Ichigo winked.

"Oh dammit..." Kisshu gave a disappointed groan.

"Well this is great," Mint said, crossing her arms.

"What's wrong, Mint?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm with him," Mint said, pointing at Kisshu.

Kisshu's eyes widened, "WHAT?!"

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh, this was a great start.

"I'm not being paired up with you!" Kisshu complained.

"Hey, it's not like I'm happy with being stuck with you either!"

"Come on everyone, let's be mature. You're both acting like children," Ichigo said, shaking her head and giving a sigh.

Ichigo looked around and found a tall boy with black hair standing alone. Could that be him? Ichigo ignored Kisshu's and Mint's argument and walked up to him.

"Hello, you must be-" Ichigo cut herself off when he looked at her. What beautiful eyes; she nearly blushed. It took her a long second to get herself together, she shook away her stupid thoughts and smiled.

"Um...Do you happen to be Aoyama?"

"Yes I do!" he said with a smile just as friendly.

"That's great!" Ichigo giggled.

That afternoon, they were all sent to their rooms. Ichigo gave a sigh of relief, her legs were aching and she needed a long nap.

"Ichigo-san, I've cleaned the room."

"That's good thanks," Ichigo gave a small bow, "So um...I haven't seen you here before."

"Yes, I know, I am new," he explained.

"Oh, I came at the beginning of the year. How's the school so far?"

"It's not bad I'm-"

"What's wrong?"

"Was that a cockroach over there?" He pointed at the floor.

To both of their surprise, Ichigo screamed and ended up running into him. The slippery floor didn't help either, in fact it made things worse and they both fell. Ichigo blushed.

"Maybe you should get off of me now..." Ichigo whispered.

The door slammed open, "What the hell is going on here?"

Kisshu was standing at the door.

Ichigo gulped, _'Oh no...'_

How did she get in that mess? Well...It all started when...

_Ichigo found herself that day sitting in front of her parents at the dinner table. She watched them read the letter. Mr and Mrs Momomiya read it carefully and whispered something quietly to each other, leaving Ichigo in an even more state of suspense._

_"Mum, dad...It's okay I don't really want to go."_

_"I think you should go," her mother replied with a smile._

_Ichigo sighed, "Well..."_

_"Come on Ichigo I'm sure it will be fun," Her mother told her "It's only for a week, and I remember you said you wanted to go abroad some day, this is the perfect opportunity!"_

_She gave Ichigo a tug on the shoulder, but she still wasn't sure. Something about it didn't feel right. She had never been away from home for so long, and her parents had wasted enough money on her school already. _

_"Hang on, one week is a long time," Mr Momomiya said looking at the paper himself._

_"But I don't want Ichigo to be left out in school activities," her mother replied._

_"Yes you are right. And I guess this is..."_

_"But mum, it's in Paris, It's so far away...And plus, I don't you guys to waste so much money on me. It's so expensive."_

_"No don't be silly, Ichigo," His father as he continued reading that letter one more time.__"It's another reward trip, if you're doing so well at school then we can't afford to not let you go," his mother added._

_"That's all good, but..."_

_"You don't have to worry about the money. Your friends said he would help with the costs. What kind people," Mrs Momomiya smiled. _

_"Wait, what? Who are you talking about?"_

_"Your friends Zakuro and Kisshu phoned this moring."_

_"Wait, they...They actually did that?"_

And now she was in a an awkward situation again. As Aoyama got off of her Ichigo quickly started to find a way to explain everything to Kisshu.

"Get off of her!" He snarled.

"Kisshu, don't!"

Kisshu pushed him away from her and pulled Ichigo away from him, ignoring an angry 'hey' from her and a confused look from Aoyama's face.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to..." Aoyama started.

"It's not his fault!" Ichigo held Kisshu by his arm to make sure he didn't start a fight. To her relief, he didn't struggle or try to move. Instead he only stared at him for a while.

"Kisshu, it was an accident. There was a bug, I got scared and we fell."

"I didn't ask for an explanation," Kisshu snapped.

Ichigo became silent, his calm but daring attitude wasn't what she expected from him at that moment but she was glad he didn't try to do anything stupid. Although, there was a slight fear to what he was thinking about her. But Kisshu couldn't get too angry over a small thing...Well, maybe it didn't look very small but once she explains to him what happened, it should all be okay.

"I don't want to see you with her again..." Kisshu warned.

"I didn't mean to upset any of you, I'm sorry," Aoyama said, "If it makes you feel better, I will move out of this room and you can stay in here instead...I mean..."

"You don't have to do that-"

"That would make me feel a lot better actually."

"Kisshu!"

"In that case, I will move. It's okay, Ichigo-san."

Aoyama got his suitcase and quickly packed a few things inside before leaving the room. Ichigo sighed and gave Kisshu an angry look when he had gone.

"I'm not sharing a room with you," Ichigo gave him another one of her glares.

"Ichigo..."

"Ok, you're not my dad! Was that really necessary? Why are you always so...Stupid?!"

"Okay, it's not like you would be okay if you saw me with some other girl on top of me!" Kisshu shouted back, equally angry.

Those words took Ichigo aback slightly. After all, he was the type of person who could make any girl fall for him. And there were so many other girls who were after him already. She didn't understand why he was the one feeling so insecure.

"Maybe that's because you're so used to kissing every girl in sight," Ichigo yelled back.

"Ichigo, please..." Kisshu sighed.

"Why don't you trust me?"

"I do, I just don't trust him. I'm sorry."

"I...Fine... I'm sorry too," Ichigo's voice softened but she refused to look at him.

"Ichigo, please look at me."

But Kisshu was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Kisshu groaned and rolled his eyes as Ichigo went to open the door. It was the same lady with the squeaky voice. Ichigo gave her a quick bow and returned the smile.

"Hello, I've come to take your names down to make sure everyone is here. So you must me Ichigo, and you are Aoyama?"

"No that's Kisshu," Ichigo corrected her.

"No I-" Kisshu tried to explain.

"They swapped rooms and now Kisshu is staying here. Is that okay?"

She gave her a confused look and started writing down something in her paper, "That's okay...Let me just change this here...Ok you two relax for now. You'll be expected to wake up at eight tomorrow morning. You better bring all your things in this room young man. See you soon!"

Both Kisshu and Ichigo nodded. After an awkward silence, Kisshu wrapped his arms around Ichigo and kissed her forehead. He held her chin up high and close to his.

"Please don't get angry when we just came here. I said I was sorry. Just...It will be fine," Kisshu reassured as he placed his forehead on hers.

"Hm...But that was cute, I didn't think your would ever get jealous," Ichigo giggled.

"No, I wouldn't call that jealousy..."

"Nope, in my book, that's called being jealous."

Kisshu smirked and moved his lips forward to give her a kiss but Ichigo moved away, "I'm still pretty annoyed with you."

He sighed and pulled her closer to him once again, this time he barely touched her lips but he made no effort to come any closer. Instead he only smirked, "But you won't be for long, kitten."

And with that, he left the room and closed the door behind him.

_'Did he just call me a kitten?' _Ichigo laughed at the thought.


	30. Living Arrangements

"Ok so this is how this is going to work," Ichigo said, crossing her arms as she came out of the bathroom, "This room is going to be split in half, one side will be mine, and the other will be yours."

Now that she would be sharing her room with Kisshu, she might as well set up a few rules. Not that Kisshu would be the type of person who would follow them, or know his limits for that matter. But she might just as well give it a try. Who knows what that idiot will do? She had known him for long enough and from Ichigo's understanding, Kisshu seemed to have two sides: The scary, arrogant monster that would kill each and everyone in his sight if he could and the stupid pervert side which again, involves stubbornness, stupidity and a whole load of...Kisshu-ness. There was no inbetween. She couldn't believe that's what she is going to have to deal with for the next whole week!

Ichigo walked from one side of the room to the other to demonstrate where that imaginary line was, "We are not allowed to pass this line. The left side will be yours and...Kisshu are you even listening?"

Ichigo asked when she realised Kisshu's mind was elsewhere.

"We will discuss about our living arrangements later. Koneko-chan lets talk about this..." Kisshu took out a bra from his pocket and showed it to Ichigo whose eyes widened the moment she realised whose it was. He held the strap and let it dangle down as he gave it a little swing from side to side.

"H...Hey!" Ichigo's face reddened and her anger only increased when she saw that Kisshu was trying to keep in his laughter.

"Hm...It's black, never imagined that to be your colour..." He then took out something else from his pocket, this time it was a pair of panties which were light pink in colour, "There we go, I think those would suit you much better."

"Kisshu..." Ichigo said, in a low frightening voice.

"But I guess you would look equally sexy in black too," Kisshu continued, giving her a wink, "I guess these are cute, but I wonder how you would look in a bikini..."

"Give. Those. Back."

"These look pretty big, what size are they?"

That was it. Ichigo had enough. Why can't he show a little bit of maturity? She could practically strangle him to death right now. They had a great start with a stupid misunderstanding and now this! He has to have a serious death wish or he could have never even think of doing such thing.

"Ok, I'm going to say this in the nicest way I can," Ichigo took a deep breath forcing her 'murder' mood inside, "You will put those away. Right. Now."

"What if I don't?"

"Kisshu...I am going to kill you! Give that back!"

Ichigo ran and tried to snatch her underwear back but he only held them up higher so she couldn't reach, "Kitty-cat, I'm pretty sure you're in my side of the room. What did you say would happen if we cross that line?"

"KISSHU! GET OUT!"

Kisshu couldn't help but laugh. When he was finally satisfied, he gave her the bra and panties and watched Ichigo snatch them away from him. Ichigo's face was still a noticeable shade of red so she faced away from him. Her anger flared.

"I'm never talking to you again."

"Come on, I was just playing with you."

"Rule number one: No going through my drawers!" Ichigo shouted with frustration.

"Ok, ok. I'll stop."

"Rule number two: No crossing our lines."

"But-"

"Rule number three: If you break any of those rules or annoy me on purpose, then I'm breaking up with you."

Kisshu laughed at the last one but Ichigo didn't seem to find any of this funny.

"Wait, you're joking right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Yup you're joking," Kisshu sighed.

"I am not!"

"Ok so er...I won't touch any of your stuff, but you're going to have to do something in return."

"What?"

"Stop being angry with me and you'll give me kiss?"

"I'll stop being angry with you. But no kiss."

"Stop being angry with me and _think _about giving me a kiss?"

"Fine I'll think about it! But I don't guarantee anything."

"Ok and I don't like your rule number two."

"Tough luck," Ichigo shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh please...How am I supposed to talk to you or like...I don't know..."

"We can talk outside. And besides, if you're dying to talk then we will text or talk from the other side of the room. It's no big deal."

"But then how do I get to the bathroom? It's in your side."

Ichigo looked at the bathroom door. That was a good point...

"Ok you can come when you need the toilet."

"How about I can come at all times and you find a way to be okay with it?"

Ichigo gave him another glare, "Fine, I'll change the rule two. We will get rid of the line as long as you don't play around."

"Not even a little?"

"Nope."

Kisshu sighed, "And as for your rule number three, no matter how annoying you find me, you still can't get rid of me."

"Yeah right. What makes you think that?"

"Because I love you and I know you love me a lot too."

Ichigo's anger faded a little when he smiled. The cute one which made every girl's heart melt, not the creepy one. Although she did try not to show it. She was still angry. But to be with Kisshu meant to put up with his perviness as well which could become too much sometimes. She has to deal with the whole package.

"That's not going to help."

Kisshu stroked her cheeks and held her chin high with his other hand so she would look him in the eyes, "What have you decided about the kiss?"

"You can't always have your way."

"Just this once. Please, I won't bother you again," he whispered.

"I-"

But he cut her off with a kiss. Short but sweet. No tongue, just lips. Ichigo hadn't been kissed like that for ages, it felt nice. When Kisshu pulled away, he just smiled. No silly comments, no groping or hugging. He reached to his 'side' of the room and started making his bed. Watching him do so, Ichigo started doing the same thing. They didn't say anything to each other for a while. Not until Kisshu was done. He lied down in his bed and and whispered the words 'goodnight' before he put his blanket up and closed his eyes shut. Ichigo wondered what go into him but decided it was for the best. She turned off the lights and decided to go to sleep herself.

The next morning...

RIING! RIING! RIING!

"Everyone, it's time to wake up!"

Ichigo's eyes opened wide in an instant and it took her a long while to remember where she was. Ichigo looked at the clock and yawned. Hang on...They weren't supposed to be awake until two more hours...What was going on? Ichigo stared at her pillow and bed, feeling too tired to abandon it. Even though, she did prefer her own bed back at home. She heard some more people shout but to Ichigo's surprise, Kisshu didn't seem to even move. Wow, he must be tired. Maybe she should wake him up...But she's not allowed to go to his side. Oh wait, they kinda gave up on that idea. Oh well. Ichigo got herself up and walked over to Kisshu's bed. She tugged his shoulder and tried to wake him up. With a few turns and groans he opened his eyes and woke up.

"Where am I?"

"You'll be in death's door if you don't get up right now."

"Huh?"

"Good morning."

"Wha..."

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"But I wanna sleep," Kisshu complained.

"I'll get it," Ichigo mumbled.

"Hello! Hello! Good morning! There's a change of plans, the place we wanted to visit today got cancelled so that's why you had to wake up earlier than I planned," It was that mouse lady again...

"Anyhoo, get ready and come down to the main hall in half an hour. See you there!"

And with that she closed the door and left.

This was going to be a long day...


	31. The Open Door

Ichigo walked to the bathroom half awake. She took her clothes to the bathroom and double checked that the door was locked while she changed. Just in case her roommate happens stop lazing around and finally get out of bed. She wouldn't want him to come inside and...Well...Get any ideas. So when she finished changing, Ichigo decided to try and wake him up for the last time. After a short angry lecture and frustrated yelling, Kisshu got out of bed and was changed before Ichigo reached the main hall.

"Wait up!" She heard him shout, but Ichigo only walked faster. To try and get him down quicker.

There were more people down, chattering to each other and only quietened down when they were told to be quiet by their teachers.

"Ok everyone, today you will go to a nearby beach considering that the weather seems to be great right now. We will start off with something relaxing in our trip since our original plan for today was cancelled. But that is not a problem."

The tall teacher glared at a few students at the front who she caught whispering before continuing her announcement.

"As I was saying, that is okay because we will go tomorrow. So you will be escorted outside and will have to go inside the coach. Further instructions will be given once your are inside? Are we clear?"

The crowd of students nodded in unison before they left outside. Ichigo turned around and felt a sigh of relief to see Kisshu there. Kisshu didn't seem to notice her as he was busy looking for something in his pockets.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"Damn it, I forgot my phone," Kisshu cursed at himself.

"Can't you do without it?"

"Well yeah, but I can quickly go get it now. It won't take long. Take my bag inside!"

And with that he ran to the opposite direction before Ichigo could tell him to stop.

"That idiot," Ichigo mumbled to herself.

But there was little she could do now. Kisshu was already gone and she couldn't wait for him or would be told off by her teachers. So she followed the rest of the excited students.

Ichigo went inside the coach and quickly sat down next to an empty seat. She kept looking through the window, hoping to see Kisshu running to the coach but he wasn't there yet.

"Good morning, Ichigo!"

Ichigo looked up in surprise. It was Aoyama.

"May I sit next to you?" He asked, politely.

"Well, actually...I was saving this seat for-"

"Young boy, please take a seat! We will be leaving soon."

She heard her teacher shout to Aoyama.

"Um...Sure!" Ichigo took away Kisshu's bag from him seat to let him sit down next to her. She didn't want him to get told off because of her. A few seconds later, Kisshu came running inside.

"You will have to sit down at the back, that's the only seat left."

Kisshu looked around and stopped when he saw Ichigo sitting down with his bag. To his confusion she was sitting next to someone else. Ichigo handed his bag to him and he wasn't given any time to question her as he was told off by the teachers at the front. Ichigo mouthed the words 'sorry' as Kisshu was forced to walk to the back. When they all put their seat belts on, and the teacher checked whether no one was missing for what felt like the hundredth time, the coach started moving. The journey was longer than Ichigo expected. She hated sitting down and doing nothing. She had very little activities to do to get rid of her boredom apart from talking to Aoyama. He interestingly enough, didn't say a word for a long while. He managed to stay still for longer than Ichigo and after staring into space for a while he turned to look at Ichigo and broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, did you not want me to sit here?" He asked, with an apologetic tone of voice that made Ichigo feel sorry for him.

"No, no that's not it. I was just..."

"You were saving this seat for someone?"

"No, I was just-"

"Saving it for Kisshu," Aoyama said, completing her sentence. Although, Ichigo's sentence would've probably ended with something much more different.

"Well...Yes. But I am glad he isn't sitting here. Serves him right for being late."

Aoyama gave a small chuckle, "Hm...You're cute."

He gave a long sigh before he put his head back and closed his eyes. He didn't seem to notice Ichigo's blushed, red face. But she pushed those risky thoughts away and tried to turn around to catch a glimpse of Kisshu, wondering what he was doing. When she couldn't see him, Ichigo gave up and placed her head back to her seat too. They both fell asleep in a few minutes. When Ichigo was finally awake, they had already reached their destination and everyone was getting prepared to leave.

"So I guess I will see you next time?" Aoyama asked as they walked out.

"Yeah I-"

But Ichigo felt someone hold her wrist tightly.

"That's enough Ichigo, that little dog can find someone else to talk with."

Kisshu grabbed her write tighter and pulled her away from him.

"Kisshu, what is wrong with you?!"

"I thought I told you to stay away from her," Kisshu snarled.

"Kisshu, let go of my hand!"

"I will deal with you later," Kisshu turned to Ichigo with the same cold eyes and dragged her away.

"Why would you do that?" Ichigo glared at him but he gave her no answer. Ichigo was getting more and more frustrated with him. She hated how badly he treated other people when they didn't do anything wrong. She remembered how she used to hate him more than anything because of his abusive ways. His hatred towards people, that made everyone pull apart from him. And now those mood swings were coming back. She escaped from Kisshu's grip and walked away towards the huts. Kisshu seemed to come back to his senses when she was gone. The fact that she didn't even shout at him made him fear what she was going to do.

_"Damn it, I messed up again," _Kisshu cursed himself the second time that day. Kisshu quickly followed her.

"Ichigo."

Kisshu entered inside the room, closing the door behind him. Ichigo was going through her bag and didn't bother to shot a glance at him. Not a good sign.

"Ichigo, please listen to me."

"I don't want to listen to you or talk to you."

"Well, you're going to have to."

"I don't want to deal with this right now!" Ichigo snapped, "Go away Kisshu."

Kisshu took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he started talking, "Ok, I'm sorry."

"I don't care," Ichigo said, quietly.

"I just don't like you being with him. I really don't like it when he's near you, I know it's my fault and I shouldn't have left like that but-"

"Ok, ok. Stop," Ichigo finally decided to respond, "You wanted to deal with this now, fine. We are solving this issue once and for all."

"What are you going to do?" Kisshu asked, confused.

"I'm going to say this as clearly as I can." She told him, "You are going to stop being arrogant, get rid of this I-am-better-than-everyone-else attitude and you're going to start treating people better. Not just Aoyama, but everyone. Do you understand?"

"Um...Yeah."

"And if you keep doing this, then you will never hear from me again. Do you understand that too?"

Kisshu looked at the seriousness in her eyes.

"No don't say that."

"I don't think I would want to be with someone like you. This anger hides away the Kisshu that I like..."

There was a long silence.

"Fine, I will stop."

"Thank you."

"But only for you. Just...Don't ever mention about breaking up again."

Ichigo nodded, "Sorry, I didn't mean it..."

"It's okay. I guess I'll be going."

Kisshu was surprised when Ichigo pulled him into a hug. She shook her head to say no and wrapped her arms around his neck, slightly tiptoeing to reach his height.

"What's with the sudden affection?"

"Just shut up," Ichigo whispered giving him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Kisshu replied with a smile.

"Thank you, really," Ichigo said, her face was a light shade of red but Kisshu didn't seem to mind and made no comment on it.

"By the way, I'm really looking forward to seeing you in a bikini," Kisshu smirked.

Ichigo blushed and turned away, "I'm not showing you anything!"

"Please!" Kisshu made the saddest puppy dog eyes he could make.

This lead on to another argument. Only this one involved more teasing Kisshu's usual pervertedness. Long story short, Ichigo gave up.

"Ugh, I'm going to change."

And with that she went in the bathroom. After a few minutes, Kisshu started to become impatient. Ichigo was still in the bathroom and she hadn't come out yet. Why was she taking so long? He was already done. He wondered whether she was still mad at her. But they had already made up.

"Ichigo! Will you hurry up?" Kisshu groaned.

There was no reply.

"If you don't come out, I'm going to leave without you! And we're already late."

Kisshu stopped shouting when he heard the door open. He turned around to see Ichigo slowly come out. Ichigo was wearing a cute red bikini and bottoms. Kisshu's eyes widened. He gulped and couldn't help but stare at her. Ichigo on the other hand couldn't meet his gaze and shied away from him.

"You look hot."

That was all that came out from his lips. He was mesmerised by her and his eyes feasted on her body, her every single curve and skin.

"Please stop staring," Ichigo whispered.

"No you can't wear something like that in front of me and then tell me to stop staring," Kisshu said in an equal quiet voice, "Now how do you expect me to resist myself?"

"But you're the one who told me to..." Ichigo said looking down, her protests sounded like useless complaining that would get nowhere, "I should just change into something else."

Ichigo quickly headed towards the bathroom once again but stopped dead in her tracks when she felt the string in her back slowly untangle. Ichigo gasped and was too shocked to say anything. She slowly turned her head around to see that Kisshu was holding the piece of string. If he pulled just a little more...

"No, don't!"

Kisshu's smirk only widened. He pulled the string a little more to tease her and force her to come back to her original spot. Kisshu half circled her, still holding the string and pulled her to him.

"I'm supposed to wear a dress on top...It's in my bag. I need to go."

"You did this to show me. Stop making excuses."

"Fine, you've seen me now. So you can let me go."

"But kitten, I want to do so much more than just look at you."

"Um..." Ichigo could feel her face flushing. Her eyes flickered violently.

"You've pleased the eyes, but not my hands." Kisshu held her chin up higher, forcing her to look at him, "I want to touch you."

"This was such a bad idea."

"Well your body and and eyes tell me something completely different."

Ichigo could feel those golden eyes deep inside her. As if he knew all her secrets. Ichigo was unsure whether that was a good or a bad thing.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything that you might regret later," Kisshu reassured, "Just trust me."

Ichigo could feel him pull the string a little more, it almost felt like it wasn't there. She nodded.

The second she said so, Kisshu let go of the string and wrapped his arms around her instead. He moaned when he felt her body touch his and used his mouth to bite the strap of her bra and pull it down to her shoulders. He licked her neck and trailed it with kisses. He stopped and breathed to take in her scent and enjoyed her warmth once more. Kisshu kissed her a few more times and looked back at her, mostly because he wanted to see her reaction. But Ichigo's expression was no different than before. It was still the same, sweet, innocent looking Ichigo.

"Why do you have to be so beautiful?" Kisshu groaned and forced his way in her lips, tilting his head to get full access of her mouth.

After a few seconds he pulled away in surprise, "You just bit my tongue."

"What? I thought you liked being teased," She remarked, shrugging her shoulders.

Kisshu but smirked and let Ichigo take control of the kiss. But it was only a few more long seconds before Kisshu pulled away again. He was surprised that she could kiss like that, considering she was usually hesitant to even let him kiss or touch her. He wondered what happened to her all of a sudden, but with all honesty, that didn't really matter to him. She bit and licked his lips a couple of times and it reminded him of the kiss that they had on their date.

"What's wrong now?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu smiled and let her go, "Thank you for this," He told her.

Ichigo watched him lick his lips and give a sigh.

"You should put your dress on or I don't think I'll be able to control myself anymore. I don't want things to get further than this."

Kisshu handed over her dress that was on the chair.

"I'm sorry for always getting angry at you," Ichigo told him.

"Don't be. But we should really do this more often," Kisshu only shook his head but gave her a wink at his last suggestion.

"We should go now. Everyone's probably outside."

Ichigo turned to face the door but didn't move. Instead, she stood still. What moved were her expressions, from calm and relaxed to shocked and confused. Kisshu, hearing her gasp, turned too to see what had happened. He soon realised that the door was open. Someone had came inside.


	32. Unexpected Confessions

The trip passed by really quickly. Ichigo didn't realise how much fun she was having until it was nearly time to go. Her days had passed by with playful moments with Kisshu. She felt closer to him by the end of it. She had a crazy week and had nothing left of it apart from beautiful memories that she couldn't help but smile every time she thought about them. There was only one more day left. Technically, one more night left. They would be leaving by next morning, right after breakfast. It would end with a small party and some dancing. That was what she was told anyway. Ichigo brushed her hair and sighed in front of the mirror. Her hair was softer than usual; she had washed it recently that day.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Kisshu's voice echoed through the bathroom.

Ichigo turned around, seeing him standing there. He was wearing a tuxedo. A black one which seemed to suit him amazingly. Kisshu hardly dressed in such way. Even at formal parties, he wore something casual. His appearance didn't seem to matter to him at times. He talked little and only really conversed with Pai or Taruto or a few of his other close friends.

"Nothing much," Ichigo shrugged.

"Beautiful," Kisshu smirked, giving his lips a quick lick when he saw her dressed up.

"Look at you," Ichigo grinned, "Dressed to impress?"

"I don't need to impress anyone," Kisshu muttered.

"Of course not."

"Well, maybe apart from you, of course," He added with a wink, "Do you like it?"

"Yeah I like it."

"So you admit that I look hot?"

Ichigo paused for a moment before answering, "You always look hot."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss which he happily returned back.

"You're getting naughtier," Kisshu gave her a lustful look, "I like it."

"Um...Kisshu?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"I don't know how to explain it."

Kisshu only gave her a confused look, "Tell me."

"It's not a big deal but..."

"Just tell me!"

"I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"What do you mean? Like what?"

"I don't know. Don't you ever wonder? What if something happens and you leave me and-"

"Why would I leave you?" Kisshu laughed as if she said something stupid.

"I don't know. I just have these feelings sometimes."

"You worry too much. Nothing bad will ever happen."

"Such world doesn't exist," Ichigo argued.

Kisshu sighed and pulled her into a hug, "Don't worry, it will be fine. Everything's going okay isn't it?" those were the only comforting words he could think of.

Ichigo smiled and placed her head in his chest. It only lasted for about a minute. It was time to head back downstairs, she didn't want to be late. So they broke apart from each other and headed downstairs where they were greeted by a loud cheer. Ichigo chatted with a couple of girls she met for a while.

"I'm going to the toilet," Kisshu told her, his voice was tiny in between the loud screaming and shouting and the weird French music which she couldn't really understand. Ichigo only nodded and guessed he had to go somewhere. Ichigo looked around the room for a second, she didn't take part in any of the dancing. She quietly stood in the corner, trying not to feel too left out. She was lost in her own made up world until she felt a tap in her shoulder. She smiled to see Aoyama.

"You are here alone? Where's Kisshu?" He asked.

"He's gone somewhere, should be coming back in a few minutes," Ichigo replied.

"So important that he leaves you alone here?"

"Seems so," Ichigo shrugged. They both laughed at their little joke.

"I'd say it's a bad choice."

"I know right, who can resist this face?" Ichigo did her best puppy-dog face and laughed.

Aoyama only gave a small chuckle and whispered something she couldn't hear.

"Did you say something?"

"Yeah, do you want to dance?"

Ichigo shook her head but thanked him for the offer.

"Well then do you want a drink?"

"I already had some."

But Aoyama insisted so Ichigo ended up saying yes. He went and came back quickly enough and they spent a few more minutes talking with each other. Ichigo liked his company, she doesn't understand why Kisshu makes a big fuss every time he's around her.

* * *

Kisshu was on his way back from the bathroom. He checked himself in the mirror quickly. After admiring himself for a few seconds, he opened the door to leave. But was surprised to see someone standing there. Kisshu only glared at her but said nothing.

"What the hell, Kisshu?" Miyuki exclaimed, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

Kisshu groaned. He didn't want to deal with this, Ichigo was waiting for her so he said nothing and walked past her. But Miyuki held his arm tightly and pulled him closer. She looked hurt and there was a hint of tears in her eyes. It made Kisshu feel bad for being so hard on her all the time, but then his face returned to the same cold features once he remembered why she hated her so much.

"I know you hate me, okay? I know," she whispered.

Kisshu rolled his eyes.

"I just...I need to talk to you...And it's important."

Kisshu tried to push her away.

"Please, just listen to me once! You need to know this."

Kisshu gave another groan, "Make this quick. But just know that nothing you say will break me away from Ichigo."

"This isn't about that little brat!" She snarled but quickly fixed her attitude and forced her voice to become softer, "I mean...It's not about her. It's something else."

"Then hurry up and tell me what it is and stop beating around the bush!" Kisshu shouted.

She's only trying to manipulate him. Nothing she says will change anything. Whether it was between them or between his relationship with Ichigo.

"I'm pregnant!" Miyuki blurted out.

Well, maybe apart from that...


	33. A Perfect World That Doesn't Exist

_Kisshu tried to push her away._

_"Please, just listen to me once! You need to know this."_

_Kisshu gave another groan, "Make this quick. But just know that nothing you say will break me away from Ichigo."_

_"This isn't about that little brat!" She snarled but quickly fixed her attitude and forced her voice to become softer, "I mean...It's not about her. It's something else."_

_"Then hurry up and tell me what it is and stop beating around the bush!" Kisshu shouted._

_She's only trying to manipulate him. Nothing she says will change anything. Whether it was between them or between his relationship with Ichigo._

_"I'm pregnant!" Miyuki blurted out._

Kisshu stared at her for about a minute. He was too shocked and confused to say anything. Miyuki couldn't meet his eyes, she only looked down. There was an awkward silence. None of them knew what to say and none of them had the courage to say anything for a long while. Miyuki proved to be the braver one and broke the silence.

"Please say something," she begged.

Kisshu still said nothing.

"Just say something for God's sake!"

"So what?" He finally decided to talk.

"Anything but that..." Miyuki whispered, looking up. Her eyes were filled with tears she couldn't control any longer, "Don't act like you don't care. You can't say that!"

"Why can't I? It's your fucking child, why are you bothering me with it?" Even Kisshu knew how big of a jerk that sounded. But he couldn't help it. The only reason why she would be telling her this would be because she believed he was the father. And that couldn't possibly be true.

"Kisshu..." She sobbed, "How can you be so cruel?" she screamed.

"I'm not the father, Miyuki. You're mistaken. Either that or you're lying!" This was the first thought that came to his mind considering Miyuki's past and reputation for being dishonest. But frightfully, he had a feeling that even Miyuki couldn't go this far.

"I am not! If you don't believe me then bring a stupid doctor!"

Kisshu couldn't take this anymore, "We didn't have sex!" He snarled.

Miyuki blushed and looked away, "That's not true either," she said quietly.

Kisshu gave her a questioning look.

"You were drunk that night, so you probably don't remember..."

"What?!"

"I...I didn't...I didn't think much of it really. I mean, at the time."

"You slept with other people too Miyuki. Are you forgetting the number of times you cheated on me?"

"I only cheated on you once, but you were with that other girl so it doesn't even count as cheating! And all the other times, I used protection."

Miyuki clenched her fists and took a deep breath. Her eyes were red and and wet from crying. Kisshu noticed that her hair was messier than usual. He just didn't know what to do or say, nothing made any sense to him. It had to be some sort of trick. If his family found out, or even worse, if Ichigo found out...It would change everything. His head hurt from the thought. They will find out eventually. Ichigo would find out eventually.

"How long has it been?" He asked quietly.

"Only about three months," Miyuki replied, "Sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Are you going to keep the child?" He asked.

Miyuki gave him another shocked look in response.

"Look, I know I sound like a jerk but this is affecting you too! I'll probably affect you more than me and I just want to know what you've decided to do with it," Kisshu mentally kicked himself, "I mean...If you've looked through all the options and which ones you decided to take."

"I want to keep it. At least give birth to it anyway...I haven't decided what to do afterwards."

"Okay," Kisshu nodded.

There was another long silence. Miyuki looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

"Why wouldn't you...Why wouldn't you use protection God dammit!" Kisshu growled, without facing her. Almost like he was talking to himself. He muttered a few other words and cursed himself a number of times under his breath.

"I'm sorry," Miyuki said chewing her lips.

He hated her. He knew it wasn't her fault completely but he hated that she had come to her life again. He hated how it was his fault too. He was in danger of losing Ichigo forever and it would be because of him. It would be his fault.

Kisshu sighed, "What do you want me to do? You know I love someone else."

Miyuki looked down but smiled with a slight blush in her face.

"I know this is hard, it's hard for me too," Miyuki reassured, giving him a kiss in the forehead, "Just tell me you care and that you'll be there for me. For the child at least."

"I...I'll be there for you," he forced the words from his mouth after a long pause. Miyuki smiled and gave him a hug.

"Oh God, I missed you so much..." She sobbed in his shoulder. Kisshu made no little movement but decided to hug her back.

"It's okay, just let it out..."

With that, she cried harder. All the memories that he had with her came came flooding back to him. He still loved Ichigo, but at that moment he realised that it wasn't Miyuki's fault. She loved him the way he loved Ichigo. And the things she did to Ichigo, he probably would have done the same thing if he saw Ichigo with someone else. After a few minutes, Miyuki wiped off her tears and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"I should get going," she told him, "And by the way, I think Ichigo's looking for you, I saw her walk upstairs with Aoyama."

Kisshu's eyes widened but decided to say nothing. Kisshu watched Miyuki leave the room quietly. Once she was gone, he stared at the open door, and that was when he remembered what Ichigo was saying to him. Only then he understood what she meant.

_"I feel like something bad is going to happen."_

_"What do you mean? Like what?"_

_"I don't know. Don't you ever wonder? What if something happens and you leave me and-"_

_"Why would I leave you?" Kisshu laughed as if she said something stupid._

_"I don't know. I just have these feelings sometimes."_

_"You worry too much. Nothing bad will ever happen."_

_"Such world doesn't exist," Ichigo argued._

"You were right, Ichigo..." he whispered to himself, "Such world really doesn't exist."

He fell down to his knees and he took a few minutes to take in what had happened. The more he thought about it the more it felt real. He felt like he was going insane.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo...I'm sorry I couldn't create the world you wanted."

He stared at the floor, half-expecting for Ichigo to miraculously hear what he said. Half-expecting her to be okay with it and for everything to fall into place. But deep down he knew that it was his other half that held the truth.

"Well I messed things up pretty badly didn't I?" He spoke with a shaky voice, laughing to himself. This was soon converted into a soft cry.


	34. Promise

Kisshu found himself walking out of that room very soon after Miyuki had left. He walked back into his room and soon took off his tuxedo jacket and laid down in his bed, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes. He was supposed to go look for Ichigo who must have been waiting patiently for him but he did not know how he could face. Not mentioning anything to her would feel like lying and telling her would look like everything was just a joke and he could never earn her trust again. Not ever. She would just think that their whole relationship and everything he ever told her was merely a lie to play along with her. Either way, he will look bad and she would never forgive him. He was sure of it.

_'Well I could at least try and say sorry...'_ His brain tried to closely analyse the idea and what would be the likely consequences for it but he soon made up his mind and decided it was a in fact a pretty bad idea. He couldn't tell her just yet. It would ruin the whole trip which she looked forward to so much. He should at least make Miyuki do a pregnancy test and tell her afterwards. After all, she could be lying. He was trying to build up a small hope in his mind in order to try and keep himself sane.

Kisshu gave a loud groan and got up. Thinking about it more would damage his brain further, he already felt sick and he was starting to get a migraine. He decided to ignore the party and just get himself to bed. He couldn't think about Ichigo now. Kisshu set up his bed and was about to get changed when he heard a loud banging in the door.

"Whoever it is, go away!" He shouted.

But the door flung open and there stood a very well dressed but angry Ichigo.

"Ichigo?"

Ichigo limped slightly and she stepped her foot and walked towards him in a staggering manner as if she was having difficulty keeping herself steady and was about to fall if only a wrong footstep was taken.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her as calmly as he could.

Ichigo only gave a small giggle, "What are _you _doing here?"

"I'm sorry I don't think I can go to that party, I'm tired."

Ichigo replied by giving him a quick punch in the arm. It didn't hurt, but it did take Kisshu by surprise.

"Why did you do that for?"

"What do you mean why did I do that for?" Ichigo shouted, "I was waiting for you for so long and you just left me like that! How could you? If you were tired you could've at least told me before going!"

Ichigo a few more punches in his arm.

"Ok I'm sorry...But it wasn't that big of a deal. Why are you so-"

Kisshu stooped talking and watched Ichigo closely. Something about the way she was standing and looking at him was not right. Was she hurt? Why was she talking like that? Did he unknowingly do something wrong again?

"Is something wrong Ichigo?" Kisshu asked before his brain could get carried away.

But when Ichigo didn't answer and just look blankly at him, Kisshu stepped forward and stroked her face gently to pull it up. He watched her closely and his widened once more from confusion and shock.

"Ichigo...Are you drunk?" Kisshu quickly started sniffing his nose to see if there was any scent of alcohol. Now that he thought it, it was there slightly.

"What are you talking about? How could I be-"

Ichigo pulled away from him and fell into his bed.

"I'm tired too. I want to sleep."

"But that's my bed."

But Ichigo didn't move. Kisshu sighed and only felt angrier at himself. Once he managed to get Ichigo to change into something more comfortable, he got her to bed and took the piece of blanket and placed it on top of her. He gave her a kiss in the forehead and got up to leave.

"No," Ichigo shook her head and held onto his arm pulling his back down to the floor again.

"Kiss me again," she whispered.

Kisshu gave her another kiss in the forehead.

But Ichigo shook her head once more, "In here," she pointed at her lips.

"Ichigo..." Kisshu looked at her with uncertainty.

Once her patience ran out, she pulled his neck closer and gave him a kiss. He kissed her back like he always did.

"Please sleep with me," Ichigo begged.

That made him forget about Miyuki and he couldn't help smirking.

"Well, since you asked so nicely..."

Kisshu jumped in the bed with her who quickly made room for him. Kisshu was about to fall asleep but opened back his eyes when he noticed that Ichigo was staring at him.

"What's up, kitten?"

"Let's have sex," she blurted out.

Kisshu was left speechless for another long moment.

"Goddamn Ichigo... I wish you were drunk more often."

"I'm not drunk."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes. You. Are," Kisshu pushed Ichigo's forehead back down to her pillow, "Now kitty-cat, that was a lovely offer which I will gladly take once you return back into the realm of logic. Until then, go to sleep. Don't tempt me Ichigo," Kisshu warned.

"I'm not drunk!" Ichigo shouted once more and went on top of Kisshu. She started unbuttoning his shirt and he didn't say anything until halfway.

"Ichigo, stop it!" Kisshu yelled, angrily, "I shouldn't have come in the same bed as you," he murmured getting up.

But Ichigo pinned him back to bed. Instead she took her shirt off, leaving only her vest. Kisshu slowly got back up again. He stayed sat down as Ichigo was sitting in his lap.

"Why are you doing this?" Kisshu asked softly, "I mean, you look damn sexy but you were never like this before."

It was true, Kisshu had never seen Ichigo act that way before. He could only assume it was the alcohol. But even then, it felt weird seeing Ichigo like that. If only she could act like that when she wasn't drunk and if only he didn't have Miyuki to think about, he could have made her his. Dig deep into that beautiful bare skin, glowing even in the darkness.

"You love Miyuki more than me, don't you?" Ichigo asked.

He didn't know how to answer that.

"What makes you think that?"

"You're always talking about her and you're always meeting her secretly without telling me!"

Ichigo was in the verge of tears. Kisshu started to feel sick again. She was in a mess. Nothing she said was making sense.

"I've done no such thing."

"Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar!"

"I told you I broke up with Miyuki!"

"You're going to have a child with her!" Ichigo screamed.

Kisshu froze. He was not ready for her to find out so soon.

"I heard, I know everything."

Kisshu said nothing. His eyes were red and covered with a small layer of tears.

"And now, you're going to go back to her and look after her baby and you'll just push me out of the way! Just like you always do! Just like-"

Kisshu cut her off through a kiss.

"Shut up and stop complaining," Kisshu whispered in between his kisses.

He took off the remainder of his shirt and stayed on top of her in the shirtless way he was. He never stopped kissing her. She was his no matter what.

"I'm not going to leave you for anyone else," Kisshu promised, hugging her tightly and kissing her as he did so.

"Promise?"

"Promise," Kisshu replied without a second thought.

Both soon fell asleep right after.


	35. Found

Ichigo woke up early that morning only to find herself in that awkward situation where she was sleeping in Kisshu's bed alongside him. Disturbingly, they were both shirtless and when she woke up Kisshu, he did not say a word as to what had happened last night. After a few more angry comments that escaped from her mouth, demanding some sort of explanation - which by the end of it, she did not receive - he remained worryingly silent. No teasing, no inappropriate comments or any sort of hint, just a cold stare followed by nothing at all. He stood up and left.

"Nothing happened. You were drunk and were being annoying. We hugged and kissed, then fell asleep. I did nothing at all."

That was all he said before putting on a shirt and leaving the room.

Ichigo stayed sat down in his bed and looked down at her pink bra which was all she seemed to be wearing apart from her trousers. It didn't seem like nothing had happened.

"What the hell, Kisshu?" Ichigo whispered. She still remembered nothing at all.

* * *

By the time Ichigo finished packing her bags, she started to feel even more worried. Kisshu didn't come back into the room but his bags were already packed. He must have packed them yesterday. She soon took her bags downstairs and decided to take Kisshu's too. After receiving nothing but unanswered calls from him, Ichigo's panic levels just reached its peak and she couldn't wait in suspense any longer.

"Excuse-me, have you seen where Kisshu is?" Ichigo asked a few people on the way. But they all replied with shaking head.

_'Where would he even go, leaving his bag? He has to come back to get his bag at least!'_

Ichigo tried to think. Tried to make sense of what had happened to him. Tried to make out what had happened last night. She only hoped she had not done anything to anger him because there was definitely something that was bothering him, considering of the way he was acting this morning.

'_I swear if he doesn't answer me when I see him again...How can he just leave like that?"_

"I've seen him go down quite a while a go."

That interrupted her thoughts.

"Aoyama!"

"Good morning, Ichigo."

"You too. But do you know where he went? He must have forgotten about his suitcase so I have to give it to him," Ichigo explained.

"I see. But I thought he felt to catch an earlier flight to Tokyo," Aoyama scratched his head, with another confused look.

"What?!"

"I mean...That's what I heard from a few people but I don't know anything for sure. Miyuki seems to have gone with him. And-"

"Wait up! Miyuki went with him?" Ichigo couldn't believe her ears and now nothing was making sense to her. She hardly managed to solve one puzzle and now a new one just pops up.

"I saw Miyuki go out the door with him. They were talking and seemed to be pretty happy. I thought they finally became friends but I would have thought he would tell you something about it. I mean, I was wondering why you weren't there with him."

Ichigo wasn't even listening to Aoyama blabbering on. She was too confused and her brain failed to understand anything that was happening. Why would he take an earlier flight when they were all leaving to Japan anyway? And why didn't he tell her? Why did he even leave his bag? What is wrong with him?

"Have you tried calling him?" Aoyama asked, with the same sympathetic tone.

"He's not answering."

"I'm sure he will explain everything to you once we get back."

* * *

And so a whole week had passed by and there were no answers from Kisshu. He hadn't been coming to school or replied to any of her messages. Ichigo didn't know what to think or what to do. They seemed to be getting along with each other perfectly - okay, maybe not perfectly, but perfect enough - and now he just stops talking to her for a whole week. With no sort of explanation as to what had happened or if something was wrong. She could have survived if he had told her why he was ignoring her like that. But she expects some sort of explanation.

Could it be that he didn't like her anymore? How was that possible? He would cling on to her for days on end and follow her around as if she was his glue. No, if something was wrong, he would have told her. There was no way he would just run away from her without a single word.

It was not until a few days later when she finally received a message from him. Excitement arose and Ichigo gave a sigh of relief. But then she remembered how he had been ignoring her for ages and decided that she would stick to her anger emotion. After all, she was more angry than she was happy. She stared at the message for a while. It said to meet him today in a park. The time and the details were written underneath. Ichigo quickly got dressed up and left her house, telling a small white lie to her parents, which stung guilt more than she thought.

Ichigo looked at his message one more time to make sure she was in the right place. She was slightly earlier than the time he wanted to meet her, but it didn't matter. Now she just had to wait.

"You idiot. Just wait until I find you! Just wait until I-"

And she found him.


	36. Never Be The Same Again

**Well that was incredibly long and painful to write. At this point what I'm most scared of is losing all the readers because I have a feeling you will all hate me after reading this. But the good thing is that this story is going to come to an end after a few more chapters. I'm not sure exactly how many though. I'm planning to get it finished by next month the most, but I don't want to promise anything. Thank you for reading as always, I really appreciate the reviews as well (the only proof I have that you guys are enjoying this story). I really hope you like this anyways.**

* * *

Ichigo twisted and turned in her bed with her arms wrapped around her pillow. She sat up but then lied back down again, an angry groan followed her discomfort. Zakuro and Mint sighed giving each other a few confused glances. She had arrived at Lettuce's house with tears in her eyes and broken voice. It wasn't long before her friends had arrived to check if she was okay.

"Ichigo, I'm sure it's okay," Lettuce tried reassuring her but she wasn't sure about it herself.

"No it's not," Ichigo sat back up one more time, "Nothing's okay."

"I can't believe this na no da," Pudding said with a worried look in her eyes.

"Why don't you just give up on him already?" Mint asked, receiving shocked faces by everyone.

"What? It's not the first time he has hurt her like that! If he continues doing it again and again, Ichigo will be the one who's stupid here. For continuing to make things work out when she knows it's not going to get better," Mint tried to explain.

"Mint has a point," Zakuro added, "But it's Ichigo's decision."

Ichigo looked down to her knees and wiped her tears away, "I've had enough."

And she had. She really had.

_"You look pretty," Kisshu whispered._

_"Not really what I want to talk to you about."_

_"What do you want to talk about then?"_

_Ichigo stared at him angrily, "Seriously? How could you do something like that?!"_

_"How could you just leave me in that trip and then purposely ignore me as if I don't exist anymore?" She asked again. If Kisshu thought that compliments would sort everything out, then he was wrong. And pretty stupid too for thinking something like that. _

_"I'm sorry, I needed some time to think. That is, away from you."_

_"I missed you so much...And I was so worried," Ichigo started._

_Kisshu looked at her with an equally hurt expression. _

_"I'm sorry."_

_"No phone calls or any messages!" _

_"I'm sorry."_

_"Just...Nothing..."_

_"I'm-"_

_"Don't you dare say sorry!"_

_Kisshu sighed._

_"Are you going to explain to me what happened?"_

_There was a long pause._

_"Are you going to or not?!"_

_"How can you not remember anything that had happened that night?" Kisshu asked frustrated, "Do you not remember anything? Not a single thing?"_

_"I remember some things but..."_

_"TRY TO REMEMBER!" _

_Ichigo jumped at his sudden scream. Shocked at his change of expression._

_"Just try to..."_

_And she did. The thing that was missing from her mind came flooding back. And it was too much to take in. She remembered overhearing his conversation with Miyuki but she was pretty drunk at the time so she must have forgotten about that too. And she remembered. Slightly blurred memories that were hidden behind and covered with betrayal and confusion. But it happened. It wasn't a dream. _

_"I remember," Ichigo told him quietly._

_Kisshu's eyes widened and he stared at her. It seemed that their whole conversation involved them communication with each other through a bunch of weird looks and awkward silences most of the time. Their words had little meaning left in them. Ichigo's tears also seemed meaningless. Nothing expressed their thoughts as well as it did with silence. But answers were needed, and so were explanations. That is, in the form of words._

_"You do?"_

_"I do..."_

"You know what I think?" Zakuro said, crossing her arms, "Knowing Miyuki, this is probably one of her plans to get Kisshu away from Ichigo."

"But she would pretend to be pregnant? How far is she going to go?"

"It's a possibility. Kisshu can be stupid but he wouldn't be this reckless."

"Really? But I don't think so," Ichigo said shaking her head.

"Ichigo, I've known Miyuki for as long as I've known Kisshu and she has done things similar to this before."

"Really?" Lettuce asked.

"All she has to do is bribe a few doctors and get them to show 'proof' of pregnancy. She will try to get pity from Kisshu and when the time comes to give birth she will probably pretend to have a miscarriage or something. That way, the baby never comes to existence."

"That's crazy na no da...And horrible."

"All we need to do is find out if she's really pregnant and if she isn't, just show that proof to Kisshu and it will all be solved."

"And how do we do that na no da?" Pudding asked.

"Leave that to me," Mint winked.

"Guys...I..." Ichigo gulped and took a deep breath before continuing her sentence, "You don't need to do this."

"What are you talking about?" Lettuce asked.

"If you're going to run to Lettuce's house and start crying dramatically, the least you can do is let us try to help you, idiot," Mint mumbled, annoyed.

"But that's not the end of the story!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"There's more?" Everyone asked in unison.

"Ugh!" Ichigo covered the blankets over her face in embarrassment.

_"Do you really remember everything?"_

_"Yeah, I do."_

_"Then let us break up," he whispered._

_Ichigo's eyes widened, "What?"_

_Kisshu gave a smug smile but then looked away._

_"What do you mean? You don't really mean..." Ichigo's heart fired up, the anger inside was not controllable anymore._

_"You jerk! You're such a..." _

_Ichigo couldn't think of what to say. She had lost words to describe him._

_"Are you done?"_

_"You're unbelievable! I can't believe you would do something like that! I forgave you after you've been so mean to me and now you want to break up?!"_

_"Really? So if I was that mean to you why didn't you just leave me alone?!" Kisshu screamed. This time it was him who was furious. _

_"You're the one who managed to get someone else pregnant and now this is all my fault?" _

_"Hang on, you didn't think this was about Miyuki did you?" _

_This time both Kisshu and Ichigo stared at each other with confusion. None of them knew what they were talking about anymore. Of course she was talking about Miyuki! Who else would she be talking about? Did he impegrante other women too? How many people did he sleep with? __Kisshu stared at her for a few more seconds and burst into laughter. Ichigo only gave him a confused look. Was this some sort of joke? _

_"I see you don't remember everything then," Kisshu sighed._

_"I don't get what's happening..."_

_"It's okay, kitten. I'll remind you," Kisshu took his phone out, swiped and clicked a few buttons before handing it to her. His voice was terrifyingly cold._

_Ichigo gasped in astonishment. She couldn't believe her eyes. _

_"What's wrong, Ichigo?"_

"I can't believe this!" Lettuce gasped.

"But you have to believe me, I don't remember doing anything!"

"That must be Miyuki's plan too. She knows that Kisshu wouldn't break up with you easily so she had to do something else to try and get him off of you."

The photos that Kisshu had shown her was what shocked Ichigo the most. There were pictures of her kissing someone else. Her face and her hair were clearly visible but not the man she had her arms wrapped around. All that must have happened that night but she was drunk. She didn't mean to do anything like that...

_Kisshu snatched the phone away from Ichigo the moment her expression changed from confusion to realisation. _

_"If you remember everything now, then tell me," Kisshu demanded, "What do you want me to do?"_

_Ichigo didn't say a word._

_"I don't know who's worse Ichigo, me or you," Kisshu sighed, "I'm tired to getting angry all the time, I'm tired of shouting at you."_

_"You know that I was drunk that night," Ichigo cried, "You know that someone had mixed it in my drink and whoever's doing this is just trying to break us apart!"_

_"I was drunk too and made the biggest mistake of my life," Kisshu snarled, "I'm stupid and always make stupid mistakes, but how can you be so stupid?" _

_Again, Ichigo didn't say a word._

_"How can you let someone take advantage of you like that? Why weren't you more careful?!" _

_"I can't take this anymore," Ichigo turned around and tried to keep the tears from falling._

_"I'm really confused, Kisshu..." She sobbed, "I don't get what to do."_

_"Do you remember when I promised you that night?" He asked, "When I told you that I wasn't going to leave you for anyone?" _

_Ichigo nodded._

_"I don't think I can keep my promise, Ichigo," He said, forcing the words from his mouth._

_Ichigo bit her lower lip and squeezed her eys shut, trying to keep it in for just a little longer. Just a little longer. _

_"Fine then let me ask you something," Ichigo wiped her tears away once again, "Do you think I cheated on you? Do you think everything that you've seen, do you think I did it on purpose?"_

_"Pictures don't lie, Ichigo."_

_"Answer me!" Ichigo shouted, "Do you trust me?"_

_"No," Kisshu finally replied after a long silence. _

_Ichigo licked her lips to stop the from getting dry. She took a deep breath and nodded._

_ "Okay," she whispered, "Okay."_

_She repeated, trying to take in what he just said. She knew that Kisshu had no idea how painful that single word was. She was so excited to finally see him, after receiving her message. Now, she couldn't believe that the only reason he wanted to see her was to break up with her. All those times she spent with him. Did it not mean anything to him? Did he spent that whole time trying to muster enough courage just to say that? Just to say that deep down, he didn't trust her? _

_"Listen to me, Kisshu," Ichigo told him, "If you break up with me now, just remember one thing."_

_Ichigo took a short pause before continuing, trying to pick out words and the perfect explanation in her head._

_"If we break up, you will never see me again, do you understand me? If you end it here, I'm leaving away from your life and it will be as if we have never met. It will be as if I have never known you." _

_"I will forget everything that we did together, I will wipe away all my love that I had for you and you will never come back to your life again," she warned him, "So you choose, do you want to hang in there and fight with me or do you want to end it all here?"_

_"I'm glad I had met you, Ichigo," he smiled._

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

_"You were right. You were always right. We are very different people, maybe that's why the world doesn't want us to be together."_

_"You are such an idiot! You're saying all the wrong things!"_

_"What did you want me to say?"_

_"I wanted you to say that you still loved me! That you cared, but you just...You're just running away..."_

_"Never try to get close to me again, never come back to my life again!" She screamed. _

_Of course, that was not what Kisshu really wanted to say. What he really wanted to say was the opposite of everything he said. But those words remained unsaid. Even after she slapped him across the face. Even after she ran away and left him, equally hurting. Equally crying. Even after she left from his life forever. Even after, he lost her forever. Even after he knew his life would never be the same without her again. _


	37. Explanations And Urgent Answers

"Are you sure you are okay?" Lettuce asked, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine Lettuce," Ichigo replied with a slight smile, "I really am."

"But..."

Lettuce tried to find the right words to say.

"Is it really over between you and you know..."

"Lettuce I appreciate your concern but I really don't want to talk about it right now."

Lettuce gave her a nod, "I understand."

There seemed to be two different problems which made no sense to Ichigo. The first one seemed to be Miyuki's pregnancy, and the second were the photos in Kisshu's phone. She had no clue as to what had happened that night but she was not going to give up until everything becomes clear to her. Right now, her main problem was the second one. She couldn't care less about Miyuki and Kisshu but she has to prove to him that she was right. She had to find out who the person in the picture was. She needed to know how she got drunk that night. Who was it that was behind all this?

"You know, Ichigo," Lettuce started.

"Hm?"

"I don't think I ever got a chance to properly say thank you."

"What do you mean? For what?"

"You have become my best friend and you have done so much for me ever since that day we first met."

"What are you talking about? Is that something to thank me for, silly?" Ichigo laughed.

"It is. It really is. You stood up for me when I was getting bullied and for the first time in that school, I felt happy."

"Lettuce..."

Lettuce smiled, "So thank you. I'm going to do anything to help you go through this. And I'll stand by you in the same way you did to me, even after knowing what could have happened to you."

Her words were sincere. She meant every single one of it. But it made Ichigo feel guilty. She had been caught up with Kisshu so much that she had not been spending as much time with Lettuce anymore. She forgot what great friend she had and she unknowingly took advantage of her in some way.

"Lettuce...I'm so sorry for causing you so much trouble," Ichigo whispered.

"It's no trouble at all. I'm so glad to have a friend like you, it's a blessing."

Ichigo wrapped her arms around Lettuce and gave her an unexpected hug, "No. I think it's the opposite."

She gave her a smile and placed her head in her shoulder. Everything was going to be okay. She had great friends who were willing to do so much for her. She shouldn't have given so much of her time to Kisshu. She always gets her heart broken when she trusts him too far. Lettuce, Pudding, Mint and Zakuro were the only people who she could blindly trust without having to worry about getting hurt.

"Guys!" Zakuro shouted, breaking the emotional meeting between them.

"Zakuro!" Ichigo looked up, surprised.

"I have found something. You have to see it."

"What? Already?" Ichigo asked, shocked.

"Yes, and you will not believe it!" Mint added soon running in behind her.

Zakuro held out a phone from her pocket and handed it to Ichigo.

"Why are you giving me your phone?" Ichigo asked.

"That's the thing," She replied, "It's not mine. It's Miyuki's."

And that solved all her problems. Well, half of it at least.

* * *

Loud giggles echoed the hallway and a group of girls jumped up and down in excitement. Only God knows what useless rumours they now seemed to be spreading or what trouble they seemed to be so excited about.

"So Miyuki," One of the taller girls said, "When are you going to show it to me?"

"I told you I'll give it to you later, have some patience!" She ordered.

"But Miyuki...!" Another one complained.

"Ok fine!" She finally gave up. She placed her hand in her bag and gave them a grin as she took out two beautifully decorated boxes and gave it to them.

They gasped in shock and screamed with even more volume. Of course that excitement was soon cut short by a loud clacking of footsteps. Everyone looked at the trespasser and then glanced at Miyuki.

"What are you all looking at?" She asked.

"They are looking at me," Ichigo replied.

Miyuki rolled her eyes, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I have some important questions to ask."

Miyuki gave a small laugh, "I'm busy. Get lost."

She continued talking to the others as if nothing had happened. Ichigo was not in the mood to take any of this. She grasped her arm tightly and turned her around so she was facing her.

"I don't care how busy you are but you are going to give me answers today. I don't fricking care what you say," She growled and sank her fingers in her arms.

"Don't touch me!"

"She's right," Mint said with her outward cold eyes.

Zakuro, Pudding and Lettuce stood next to her in agreement.

"Excuse-me girls but we may have to borrow your friend for a moment," Zakuro told them.

They all nodded and decided to walk away, a few of them whispering a couple of words to each other as they left.

* * *

"You don't have the right to make accusations like that! You have no proof!" Miyuki screamed.

"Then tell us the truth!" Ichigo yelled back, "Tell us why you are pretending to be pregnant."

"I'm not pretending to be anything!"

"Then please explain this," Zakuro took the phone from Lettuce's hand and showed her a few of the messages inside.

"You have clearly messaged someone saying that you faked a pregnancy test and faked all the pregnancy reports well," Mint pointed out, "We have no idea who you sent them to, but whoever it is that person is not getting away with it either."

"How can you do something like that na no da?"

Miyuki stared at the messages for a few minutes but did not a word.

"You can't stay quiet today, you have to tell me everything!" Ichigo held her shoulders and looked her in the eyes but she soon pulled away from her.

"I told you not to touch me!"

"Then tell us why you did something so disgusting like that!"

"Because of you!" She finally snapped. Angry tears fuming down her face, "Because of you. Everything happened because of you!" Miyuki cried.

Ichigo sighed. Finally she was admitting to something.

"I have never done anything to you."

"Yes you have! You took everything away from me!" More tears streamed down, she almost sobbed in between.

"You took my position in this school and Kisshu away from me. I was made fun of so much because of you!"

"So it is true? You aren't really pregnant?"

"I wanted to get Kisshu back. I wanted to get what you stole from me."

Ichigo could not believe this. It all made sense but she could not believe that Miyuki could go so low and lie about something so big. She did not care about anyone but herself. She did not care about Kisshu either.

"For the first time, he started taking care of me. He finally started coming close to me. I can't let you take him-"

But she was cut off by a slap.

"Ichigo!" Lettuce exclaimed.

"I am tired. I am tired of dealing with your mistakes and I am tired of getting involved with you. I am tired of you hurting people I love," She said.

Ichigo took a deep breath before continuing. All this anger had been building up inside her for so long and she was scared that she might just snap. Luckily, that did not happen.

"But don't worry, it's not all bad news for you," Ichigo gave her a smug smile, "I'm never going to have anything to do with Kisshu again so you can have him."

Lettuce and Pudding looked shocked but no one said a word.

"You see I don't care about what you and Kisshu get up to but I do have one last question."

Ichigo gave another short pause before continuing.

"Those pictures that were sent to Kisshu. I know you did it. I know you set me up and made it look like I was cheating on him. Probably another trick to break us up."

Miyuki looked at her with an expressionless face.

"Who was the second person in the picture? Who else took part in your plans?"

Miyuki smiled as she wiped her tears away, "Aoyama."


	38. The Ramen Shop

Of course. Of course it would be him. Ichigo did not even have any more room in herself to feel hurt or angry. But she could not lie, she did feel hurt. Even if it was just a tiny bit. But it was mostly shock. She could not trust anyone in that school. Of course that was not true either, she was not completely friendless but she still could not feel annoyed at herself for being so stupid. Maybe Kisshu was right, she had been stupid in her part for letting others fool her so easily. But it was not like Kisshu was the most intelligent person in the planet or else he would have known about Miyuki before trusting her like that. After all these moments of getting rejected by the most unexpected people and during the most unexpected times, she realised how lonely she felt. How stupid she really was. But it was not like she ever had any sort of feelings for Aoyama so she could not feel any more upset about him than she would about Kisshu.

All these people were useless in her life and she had to move away from them. It was not possible to carry on by making friends who she knew would hurt her continuously. All those times when Kisshu told her he loved her, it all felt unreal to her. At first it was in a good way, almost as if it was too good to be true. Ichigo realised that she was right. It was unreal and maybe he never really felt anything genuine for her if he could just let her go like that. He did not even hear what she had to say or cared about how she felt.

Ichigo walked inside the ramen shop nearby her house and sat down in an empty chair in the corner. After giving out her orders she stared at the book Lettuce had given her the other day. She only managed to read the first page before her mind drifted elsewhere and all she seemed to be doing was reading the meaningless words inside it and turning the pages over and over again. Nothing was going inside her head. It was only when she reached the fourth page she gave up and closed the book. She never really had been the reading type of person. Sure, she forced herself to study and managed to do well in most of her classes but she was not like Lettuce and did not have her talent of having enough patience to read big, fat books.

_'I am sorry, Lettuce,' _Ichigo told herself, _'I will read it later, I promise.'_

"That's a really good book," A sweet voice interrupted her thoughts.

Aoyama gave her another one of his typical warming smiles and sat down in the same table. Ichigo was about to greet him back only remembering about what Miyuki had told her. Watching his innocent-looking eyes she could hardly believe that he could do something like that. Miyuki could have been lying. After all, it would not have been a very big surprise.

"Um..." Ichigo looked down and opened her book again.

"I'm sorry if I was disturbing you, you were sitting here by yourself so I thought of keeping you company. If you don't mind that is."

"I don't," Ichigo said. That was all her mouth could force herself to say.

"What bit are you up to?"

"It's actually not my book, my friend gave it to me."

"I see. Do you not like it?"

"I've only read the first page, how am I supposed to know?"

Ichigo's words had a slight hint of anger. Whether Aoyama noticed it or not, he did not say a word on the matter. But Ichigo knew he understood that she was in a bad mood because of his forthcoming silence.

"Should I leave? You seem to be upset."

_'Yes.'_

"No."

There was another awkward silence. So much so that it started to make Ichigo uncomfortable. This would be the perfect time to find some answers so she could not let him leave, even if she wanted to.

"I want to ask you a question."

"Of course."

Ichigo looked at his face, he did not seem to have a clue as to what she was thinking or what she was about to ask.

"You may be offended by it, but it's something important and I really need to know," Ichigo warned.

This time Aoyama gave her a confused look. Not knowing what to expect, he gave her slow nod.

"Why are you always being so nice to me?"

"Um...What do you mean? I'm nice to everyone."

Of course he is. That was a stupid question but Ichigo did not care or feel embarrassed.

"I mean to say, why do you seem so interested in me? You always seem to follow me and wherever I am, you always seem to just be there."

"I don't understand..."

"You always manage to get into fights with Kisshu who is always so rude to you and yet, you continue to cling on to me. Why?"

"I...I don't understand what you are asking me."

"That day when we went to Paris, in our last night in the hotel, I was drunk," Ichigo told him, "Someone mixed alcohol in my drink."

Ichigo drank some water before continuing.

"And that someone also took advantage of me and took that chance to come close to me. That person also knew the consequences of what he had done and sent pictures to Kisshu."

"I am sorry for what had happened to you."

"Are you really?" Ichigo gave a small laugh, "Anyways, what I want to ask you is who is that person who could stoop so low?"

"What are you implying?"

"I am implying that you are the person who did all this!"

Aoyma stood up with a shocked expression. Ichigo stood up too.

"That was exactly my expression when I first found out as well."

"Why would you think something like that of me? I thought we were friends."

"So did I. But that's not the point, I just want you to answer my question."

"I could never think of doing something like that to you."

"CAN YOU JUST SHUT UP!" Ichigo screamed.

He stepped back and seemed to be taken aback by her sudden change in tone and sudden change in expression.

"Tell me why you did something like that! Stop pretending now, I'm tired of it!"

Aoyama sighed, "I guess I will talk to you later when you have calmed down. I am sorry for causing you so much trouble."

But Ichigo held his wrist and forced him to sit back down.

"No," she said shaking her head, "I know it was you. I know it was you who was in those pictures. I also know that Miyuki was part of it. I know why Miyuki did it but I don't know why you would want to hurt me."

"I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"Then what were you trying to do?" Ichigo asked, frustrated, "Why would you try to break me and Kisshu up?"

"You've got it wrong!"

"Then tell me what's right!" Ichigo shouted.

"I wanted you to be mine!" He finally blurted out the reason.

"What?"

"I really liked you and it hurt me to see you with someone like Kisshu who did not deserve you one bit," he told her. His eyes turned cold, quite similar to Kisshu. His smile disappeared and Ichigo could see a small tear building up in his eyes, "Miyuki wanted to hurt you but I couldn't let her do something like that. Instead, I decided to help her break you up with Kisshu, I was hoping that you would see me after getting rejected by him. I wanted to prove to you that he's not worth it."

"So you decided to do that? Have you not thought about what could have happened if someone else had seen those pictures?! Have you not thought about how much that would destroy me?!"

Ichigo could not believe it. She nearly bit her lip to stop herself from saying too much.

"So you are admitting it? You did all this too?"

"Yes," he said quietly, "And you would do it too if you were in my position."

"Listen to me carefully, I am not some toy to handed around like that. I decide what to do with my life and you don't have the right to decide things for me," she stood up from her chair.

"My friends must have already shown those messages to Kisshu and I now I have evidence too," Ichigo held out her phone, "I have a recording."

Aoyama's eyes widened even more.

"I've done it now. I've proven that nothing was my fault," Ichigo told him, "I wonder what Kisshu would think if he heard this."

Ichigo looked at her phone, "In fact, how about I send it to him right now?"

"Ichigo!"

"Done!" She put her phone away back in her pocket and gave a sigh of relief.

"Just because me and Kisshu have broken up, it doesn't mean that I would want to be with you. You are the last person I want to be with right now."

"Excuse-me!" Ichigo waved her hand and paid the waiter. She had finished what she wanted to do, now she had no intention of staying in there.

"Don't ever talk to me again, it would be most appreciated," She ordered, "At least now I can die in piece."

She quietly joked mostly to herself and left the shop without him. And it was true, the whole burden stuck inside her chest really had lifted up. Well...Most of it anyway.


	39. Leaving Forever

"Ichigo! Come down, we have something important to say!"

Ichigo heard her parents call that quiet afternoon. Ichigo yelled out to her parents letting them know that she was coming down. On her way, she wondered what task she had forgotten to do to get her into trouble. It turns out, she was not in trouble at all. Her parents sat down in the sofas in their living and waited for her to sit down with them.

"Your dad has an announcement to make," Mrs Momomiya told Ichigo.

Ichigo sat down in an awkward position. Her discomfort had soon disappeared when her mother had given her a reassuring smile. At least she now knew it was not becasue of something she had to worry about. She did not seem to be in trouble by the looks of things.

"Ichigo," Mr Momomiya sipped his cup of tea as an excuse for a pause. The suspense irritated Ichigo slightly, "I have won a lottery."

And that was it. Her father's voice seemed to be as casual as it could possibly be. He had started off the conversation as if he would be announcing the most important occurrence in the world but when he finally came to say it, his tone of voice sounded as if it was no big deal. Important enough to let his daughter know about it, but nothing overly special.

"Wh...What? How much?" Ichigo asked, surprised. That was not what she expected to hear. That was not even in the list of things she expected to hear.

"Enough to send you to study abroad!" Mr Momomiya shouted out, finally showing some sort of excitement in his uninterested voice.

"What?"

* * *

"I can't believe it na no da!" Pudding exclaimed.

"Your dad really said that?" Lettuce asked, equally in disbelief, "I would never expect him to send you away like that considering how protective he is of you."

"I know," Ichigo agreed, "I don't know what has gotten into him. I mean yes we agreed that I'm now old enough and I did want to study abroad but I don't know..."

Ichigo scratched her head in thought, " I didn't think he would actually let me. Turns out he took my words more seriously than I thought."

"You are so lucky your parents care about you so much," Lettuce said pouring some tea, "Mint would you like some?"

"Obviously," She took the teacup from her hand and started sipping it in almost an instant.

"So are you going?" Zakuro asked.

"I haven't really decided."

"We have already graduated so we are all going to different places anyway," Mint pointed out.

"And I might go America for a few months," Zakuro sighed.

"I will probably just stay here," Lettuce told them.

"You guys are so lucky! I'm still going to be in school na no da," Pudding groaned.

Everyone burst into giggles.

"It'll be okay, Pudding, you'll have Taruto with you," Ichigo winked.

"But really, if that's what your parents want you to do, then maybe that's what you should do," Lettuce advised.

Ichigo stared at her tea and the little swirling movements it made.

"I think I'll go," she whispered.

* * *

And so that was decided. A few months had passed by. Ichigo had nearly forgot about Kisshu until she decided to visit that amusement park they had once visited for a school trip. She remembered how she got stuck with him in one of the rides inside the haunted house. It was decided that she shall never visit that again. Sometimes she wondered what Kisshu had been up to. She blocked him from her contacts on purpose since that day he broke up with her and she had not seen him anywhere in school lately. She had not seen Miyuki anywhere either and she didn't really care how she was doing. Aoyama still went to school and their gazes locked with each other's once or twice for past few weeks but they had not talked to each other.

Now that she thought about it, everything that had happened felt so childish. All the drama was completely unnecessary and pointless. She would have much liked it if she could have become friends with Kisshu and even Aoyama again before she leaves. She didn't want to hold grudges against anyone for so long. Ichigo sat down in one of the benches near the park areas where it was slightly quieter. She remembered her visit being much more fun since all her friends were there with her. It was true, being alone like that was boring but when her mum suggested for her to go outside for a while, this was one of the places that first came into mind.

She soon felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Kisshu?" Ichigo asked surprised when she stood in front of her. He looked at her and gave her a nod before sitting down next to her.

"Yup, it's me," he gave a small laugh.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked suspiciously.

"That's what I should be asking you. What are you doing here alone?"

"Well, I asked you first so I should get an answer first."

Ichigo and Kisshu both laughed.

"I guess you haven't changed," Kisshu joked.

"It's not like you have changed much either."

"True."

Ichigo didn't expect to meet him that day. She was convinced that she would end up going without seeing him for the last time. She was convinced that she would never see him again. But she was glad he came.

"I was just passing by I guess," Kisshu continued.

"I see," she nodded.

"What about you?"

"Just passing by too."

"Since you are all alone, do you want to go to any of the rides together?"

Ichigo stood up, "I should get going."

"Ichigo..."

"I...I was glad to see you but I am supposed to leave now, I already stayed back more than enough."

"Wait!"

Kisshu held her wrist and stood up too. There was no force, just a gentle touch which soon broke apart when Ichigo stopped walking.

"Fine, we don't need to do anything together if you don't like it, but let's just talk. I just came here."

Ichigo sighed.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"How have you been?"

"What?"

"How have you been?" Kisshu repeated.

"Fine."

"Please sit back down, don't go just yet."

Ichigo stared at him and then at the bench seat. She made no sort of movement, instead she stood still like a rock.

"I haven't talked to you in a long time, it's been...How long? A year?" He was asking those questions mostly to himself, "There must be a lot of catching up to do, right?"

"There's very little to catch up on," Ichigo disagreed, "I really have to go today, I'm sorry."

"Then...Can we meet again tomorrow?"

Ichigo shook her head, "I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Leaving? Where?"

"London."

She left.


	40. Dangerous Reality

Kisshu lied down in his sofa and stared at the ceiling. He could not believe that Ichigo was going to London without saying a word. That was when he remembered that he was in no position to hear things like that from her. Nor was he in a position to ask.

"But I can't believe she still talked you," Taruto commented, "I mean, I would have expected her to leave straightaway."

"Shut up."

"But I think that it's a good thing she's leaving."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, she's probably really happy."

And that hurt. Ichigo was happy. She was happy without him.

"Damn it!" Kisshu screamed and took a pillow to cover it with his face.

"I mean, especially after what you did to Aoyama in the canteen that day."

"What day?" Kisshu asked.

"You don't remember?!" Taruto blurted out.

"Do you think she's still mad about that?"

Taruto groaned in annoyance and at his stupidity, "YES!"

Kisshu stared at the ceiling and replayed the situation again in his mind...

* * *

"Kisshu!" Taruto called out when he saw him walking inside the canteen. Taruto's face lit up when he walked towards him but soon converted into confusion when he walked right past him.

"Hey! Are you not going to eat with us?" Taruto called out again.

"Leave him alone," Pai sighed.

"That brat, who does he think he is? Ignoring us like that!" Taruto mumbled angrily under his breath. He was worried about his brother, no matter how hard he tried not to show it. No matter how cold Kisshu may be, he had never once treated Pai or Taruto in such manner. The childish whining and complaining was there, but they were the very few people who he treated and considered to be his friends.

"Don't you think he's up to something?" Lettuce asked.

Everyone turned around to look at him to see where he was going. Kisshu picked up his lunch on the way and sat down next to Aoyama and his group of friends. Pai and Taruto looked at each other. Lettuce was right, he was definitely up to something.

"What's he doing? Mint whispered.

Even Aoyama had a hint of surprise in his looks. But he welcomed him to sit down next to him just the same. What harm can be done? Well everyone watched quietly to find out.

"I really don't know," Pai answered.

"Damn it," Zakuro cursed under her breath and Pudding watched in fear.

"Maybe he's just trying to be social na no da," Pudding suggested, trying to maintain optimistic.

"No he hasn't completely lost it yet," Taruto shook his head in disagreement, "Or shall I say, _un-lost_ it."

"That's not a word," said Pai.

"Oh shut up, that's not our biggest problem at the moment," Mint rested her forehead in her head.

Kisshu picked up his chopsticks and picked a big blob of rice before placing it inside his mouth. He ate quietly. His strange aura suggested absolute normality as if nothing seemed to be bothering him.

"So what brings you here?" A few of Aoyama's friends asked.

Kisshu gave no response.

"Is something the matter? Did you want to talk about something?" Aoyama asked.

"Eat."

That was all he chose to say in between the low tapping noise of his chopsticks and his bowl.

"This is starting to get ridiculous," Aoyama looked down at his food, "This is about Ichigo isn't it?"

Silence. Except the canteen chatter.

"If it's about her than just say it. If you want to talk about her than just tell me instead of putting up this drama."

Kisshu had stopped eating ages a go. The moment he mentioned Ichigo's name.

"Look at that idiot, the fire's already hot and he's adding more fuel to it," Pai said standing up.

"What?" Taruto asked.

"He's talking about Kisshu and Aoyama," Zakuro sighed, "Kisshu probably wants to fight."

Aoyama stared at him, waiting for a response in the table opposite.

"Why would I want to talk to you about Ichigo?" he asked, "Have you done anything that needs to be talked about?"

Aoyama stayed quiet.

"Tell me," he placed his elbows further towards him in the table.

"Tell. Me."

Aoyama still said no word. He stared at him with the same cold eyes. And that was when Kisshu lost his patience. He grabbed him by the throat and pulled him up his chair. Shocked screams soon followed but he only sunk his nails in his throat deeper so he couldn't escape.

"Hey, let him go!" Someone said.

He ignored them.

"What are you doing?" Someone else said.

He ignored them too.

"Kisshu, let him go!" Pai demanded, in a firm voice.

He let go.

Pai pulled him by his arm, "What do you think you're doing?"

Kisshu only pulled away, "You don't have the right to interfere!"

"I just did."

"We agreed that I get to do anything I want when it came to things like these!"

"Yes, well we also agreed that you would come to school on time and stay away from trouble as much as possible," he told him, "you're not keeping your side of the promise lately so I have the right to do something about you recklessness and idiocy."

"For God's sake, Pai! Stop it!"

"Let him stay!" Aoyama shouted, "Let's see how he vents out his anger today. With a punch? A kick? More humiliation?"

"You dog..." Kisshu growled, this time he attempted to attack him again. Before long, there was another chaos in the canteen. It seemed to be the only place he manages to sort things out. Well most of the time with a good fight.

"What the hell do you want. Tell me now."

"If I ask you to give me what I want, would you be able to give it to me?"

"What do you want? Money?"

Aoyama clenched his fists and punched him across the face.

"You think you can take things away from people and replace it with money?!" He screamed, "Not everything in this world can be bought with money."

"Shut up and tell me what you want!"

"Minako!"

"Huh?"

Everyone stared at him in confusion.

"Minako? That Miyuki's friend?"

"No," Kisshu heard another familiar voice approaching closer to him.

"Sakiko? What are you doing here?" Kisshu asked.

His older sister held Aoyama's arm and pulled him up.

"I understand how you feel," she told him, "But I can assure you that my brother has not done such thing."

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Kisshu stared at them in half anger and confusion. It annoyed him that his sister was taking his side. It annoyed him that he managed to stir up hatred between him and the person who he loved and valued so much.

"Other people's lives mean nothing to you do they?" Aoyama growled, "Of course you would forget, of course you would-"

Aoyama cut himself mid-sentence when he saw Ichigo entering. Kisshu turned around and had the same reaction.

"Of course he would forget what?" Ichigo asked.

She glanced at Kisshu for half a second before looking away. The aura of awkwardness seemed to be still present in between the two.

"Your beloved Kisshu received that recording," Aoyama smirked, "And he's gone crazy. He looks angry but in reality he's just scared."

Aoyama walked towards him and looked at Ichigo.

"The fear, it's written all over his face," he continued, "He's scared because he knows he messed up. Now, he is scared of the consequences."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kisshu told him. Ichigo looked at him as he spoke.

"Then tell me, who was the reason as to why Minako died?" he asked in a low whisper, "Who was the reason for why my sister killed herself four years a go?"

Everyone gasped in shock. Kisshu could only stare at him as his words came out, hitting his soul no matter how gently he tried to lay them over her ears.

"Minako..?" Kisshu asked in shock.

"She used to go head over heels for you. You won't remember her though. She must have been only one of the thousands of play things you had. You treated people like they were toys."

He spoke in such a manner that indicated the anger had been forcefully kept inside for an endless amount of time.

"You pretended to love her in the same way she did to you. You took advantage of her and only ended up hurting her in the end! She bullied countless times for being with you. She was abused physically and mentally. She kept getting threatened everyday. She had to put up with you! A curse!"

"Please calm down," Sakiko tried.

"There's only so much someone can take, you see. She killed herself on her 15th birthday. Four years a go. And for four years, I did nothing but watch you ruin more and more people's lives," he said with disgust in every single word, "I hated how you treated Ichigo in the same way. I just thought, I thought how much better I would treat her. I though about what you did to my sister, and I wouldn't be able to bear it if the same thing happened with Ichigo."

Kisshu was lost for words.

"Now tell me," Aoyama demanded, "Will you be able to bring Minako back? WILL YOU?"

"I understand why you think this was Kisshu's fault but Minako had left me a note and a video recording before she died. And she makes it clear there that the decision she is about to take had nothing to do with Kisshu. It was true that she was hurt by him but she committed suicide because of bullying," Sakiko stepped up and handed him a piece of paper and the recording, "I didn't have a chance to show it to you before I had left. Minako and I were good friends and we used to meet at a tennis club. She used to tell me about whatever was bothering her and I would listen to her. And try to be of any help. I'm sorry I didn't give it to you earlier. But if I had known you were her brother..."

"That's not true."

"It is. Please take a look."

Aoyama stared at the sheet of paper and it was only then that his true emotion of what he was trying to hide started to show. Tears started to build up in his eyes.

"Excuse me," And with that, he ran and left the room.

"He was right you know." Those were one of the very few times Ichigo talked. Watching Kisshu's blank expression angered her much more and she allowed her frustration to take over.

"CAN YOU NOT SEE IT?" She screamed, "This dangerous game that you have been playing with reality? This game you have been playing with life? Yours and other people's?"

Ichigo snarled, "One day life will bite back. Like a snake, it will sting the life out of you."

She pulled his arm to make him look at her.

"It is true," she said, watching his remorseful eyes, "I would have been much happier if I had fallen in love with Aoyama instead of you."

Like always, she was right. That stung, more than anything. It stung.


	41. Once In A Lifetime

**Ok this is the second last chapter for this story. The next chapter will be more like an epilogue. I thank everyone for reading and leaving such encouraging reviews, I hope you have enjoyed my story and I apologise immensely about the incredibly late uploads. I know that I lost a lot of readers because I kept posting very late but I'm starting to get very busy with school and life. So I hope you enjoyed this anyway and again, thank you so much if you're still reading this. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. **

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Was he a bad person? He must be. Why was it that no matter how hard he tried, he could just never please people? He had always been like that, that's why for a long period of time he had just stopped trying. He could no keep up with the high standards from the people around him, it was just easier to shut people away from his life. It was the main reason why he lost so many friends. So many except a few. Except ones who had the patience to put up with him. He was the main reason for his loneliness and he never denied that fact. But this time, just for once, he wanted to work hard for something he wanted. He wanted to keep what was precious to him. But again, he shut her down. Again, it was his fault.

He opened the car door and quickly sat inside. He looked at his watch for a second, his eyes darted here and there. He was tired of it all.

_"Are you going after her?" _He asked to himself. The voice inside his head asked him, quite mockingly in a way. He was a fool to think that he could make it. To think that Ichigo would actually listen to him after all the messed up shit he caused.

"Yes, you idiot," Kisshu replied, "I'm, going after her. I'm going after her..."

He repeated those words in his head a couple of more times to silence the negative (yet quite reasonable) voices in his head. Well a couple of hundred times to be more exact. His foot had reached the pedals and he sped his way through, nearly killing himself a couple of times from his speeding and reached the airport with a final dramatic thump of the brakes - leading him to again, nearly kill himself.

His heart beat so fast it could practically explode, it hurt. He could do nothing but hope he had not missed the flight. Hoped that he had not missed Ichigo. He could have never imagined that some girl like her would become so important to him. Of course, Ichigo was no ordinary girl. No. She was one who made him fall in love, he didn't know how she did it, but she seemed to have done it. And of course, he could wipe her away from his life and burn away all his memories of her like he did to pretty much everyone else. But he didn't _want _to. He wanted to be happy again. To live again.

(Un)fortunately, there was only one person in this world who could do that.

Kisshu ran inside and bumped into a few people walking past him.

"Hey watch it!" They shouted angrily.

"Not now, not now..." He mumbled to himself.

He glanced at his watch to check the time: he was late.

"Excuse me, can you please tell me what time the flight to London takes off?" He asked one of the ladies working there.

"London? I'm sorry but our only flight to London for today was gone about half an hour a go," she replied with uncertainty so quickly checked a few papers, flipping each one with some speed. She asked a few others to make sure before she confirmed her reply, "Yes it is."

Kisshu had never felt so heartbroken or empty inside. He finally remembered what the pain of loss had felt like.

"Sorry, have you missed your flight sir? Would you like us to book you a new one?"

Kisshu did not even reply. He left as soon as he heard her answer.

How could he be so stupid? So careless?

"GOD DAMN IT!" He screamed, leading to a few people watching him awkwardly as they passed by.

He sat down in a bench in the corner and watched everyone queuing up to get all their passports and papers checked. Ichigo would have been standing there too, half an hour a go. She would have been waiting happily to start her life afresh and one without involving him. They were right, it was his fault. Ichigo was right, she was never happy when she was with him.

Kisshu gave a dark smile, it was time. It was time to erase Ichigo's existence out of his heart.

"Get out," he demanded, "Get out," he said again.

"For God's sake get out!"

But she didn't. She refused to leave and instead teased him. His mind remembered every single memory he had stored about her. The thousands of pictures swiped across one by one quicker than a train.

"How dare you leave like that?" He growled, "What the hell...If you're going to leave like that, why can't leave from my mind too?!"

"You know, if you talk to yourself in public like that people will think you're crazy."

And there it was. The sweet familiar voice tricking his mind again.

"I told you to leave!"

"Did you? I'm sorry I didn't hear you. Are you busy giving Miyuki and her made up child attention?"

It mocked again.

Kisshu looked up in surprise. No...Ichigo was really there. She was right in front of him, like the rarest miracle had just occurred. Had God felt pity for him? Why would He do such thing when He hated him so much?

"Ichigo?"

"Or are you busy picking up fights with other people?"

Kisshu did not know how to reply. He was not even thinking of a response.

"I wonder why you are here. Are you going somewhere?"

"No," he finally answered, "No, I'm not going anywhere."

"I see," Ichigo shrugged, "Did you come to meet someone?"

"Yeah."

"I see. When is he coming?"

"It's a 'she'," he corrected.

"Ah. So when is she coming?"

"She isn't. She left to London half an hour a go. I missed her."

"You damn right you missed her," Ichigo blurted out.

Kisshu looked up at the anger in her eyes.

"So what are you going to do now?" Ichigo asked.

"Wait until she comes back."

Ichigo laughed, "What makes you think she will come back?"

"You reckon she wouldn't?"

"Yeah pretty much."

"Then what do you think she would want me to do?"

"Just leave."

Kisshu tilted his head to the side, "Would she really?" He slowly stood up, "Then I wonder what she would do if I left right now. I wonder how long she is going to play with me like this."

"So tell me Ichigo, how long more of teasing until you're satisfied?" He asked after a short pause to see the reaction in her eyes. Ichigo's expression softened and she sighed. Kisshu wondered what was going through her mind, he had so many questions in his mind but wondered of what her answer would be, if she would even answer them at all.

Kisshu smiled, the type that held so much frustration and fear, "Do you really hate me that much?"

"You think I hate you?" Ichigo asked, this time she tilted her head to side to copy him. She smiled and gave a small chuckle, "I don't hate you."

"Then you probably should."

"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here?"

Kisshu bit his lip, "Yeah. I thought you would have left by now."

"I didn't go."

Kisshu felt a burst of relief but tried to contain his excitement, he just became suspicious, "You didn't...go? So...When are you going?"

"I'm not going."

And that was all he wanted to hear. Kisshu pulled her into a hug, he didn't care about the reasons why she decided not to go, all that mattered was that she would stay. He could make her his once again. If felt like he was getting a second chance,it felt like he was being offered a second attempt to make things better. To make matters worse, a few tears rushed out, he couldn't keep it in any longer. He was not usually the emotional type, nor he ever wanted to be.

Ichigo pulled away from him but stayed in his arms and wiped a away his tears, "I wasn't going to go. I was waiting for you."

"So it was all a trick?"

He couldn't stop hating her for that. He hated how she managed to scare him so much and turn him into an emotional mess. Part of him was glad and part of him was angry.

"I wanted to see if you would come after me. All I needed to know was if you had really given up. If-"

He cut her off with a kiss. He squeezed her body towards him and wrapped his arms around her, not caring if it hurt. He couldn't fight against the thoughts that were going through him. Her very smell and touch were the only thing flooding his senses. His hand drifted to her hip and pulled her closer, both chiseled to perfection. There was hardly any moment to react as he pressed his tongue to the seam of her lips and finally at her grant of access, rushed inside. It wasn't like the usual innocent tease, but more of a desperate and demanding one. He whispered her name, as if to savour each letter and each moment with her. As if such moments came only once in a lifetime.

"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again," he said with quick breaths between each sentence.

For the first time, Ichigo smiled and nodded.

"I'm hungry, take me somewhere to eat."

About an hour later they were both sitting down in a bench at a park, talking to each other and catching up on each other's lives after a quick meal at a shop nearby.

"I wasn't joking, Ichigo. If you ever do that again I might just as well kill you."

"Why aren't you killing me now then?"

"Because I kinda deserved it."

"So you're admitting that it was your fault?"

"Yes I'm admitting that I'm a monster and I caused a lot of pain so I'm sorry and thank you for staying by my side even after all I've done."

Their tone in the conversation changed slightly.

"You know I was just joking."

"But I'm not kidding. I want you to stay by my side no matter how angry I get and no matter how much I hurt you."

"Why?"

"Because you're the only thing I'm willing to live for," Kisshu sighed. He leaned over closer to her face, "Am I being selfish?"

"Yes, very," Ichigo nodded.

"Well then let me show you how more self-centred I can be," he smirked as if to trying to prove a point, "I want to ask you something. It's a very serious question, the one that will only come about once in a lifetime from me."

"Sure."

"Do you think you would ever married me?"

There was a long silence. Kisshu decided to give it a go, what was the worst she could say? 'No I want to marry Aoyama?' God Kisshu felt sick at the thought.

"Are you being serious...?"

"We're playing with 'what ifs' here. It's just a question."

"So you're going to propose to me?" Ichigo laughed.

"That depends on what answer you give me now."

Ichigo stopped laughing and her smile sort of faded into a more serious expression. She didn't know what to say.

This time Kisshu was the one to laugh, "Just leave it, it's quite late so we should go."

"Okay," Ichigo stood up and walked with him.

It was all going fine until the weather decided to betray them. Soon everyone quickly took out their umbrellas and hurried home with their kids. There was a long crowd of excited children laughing and playing. Sometimes Ichigo wished she was a five-year old again. The obliviousness would make life so much more simple.

"Oh no I think it's going to rain," Kisshu exclaimed looking at the sky, "I haven't bought my umbrella, where did I park my car again?"

Ichigo held his wrist, "Wait."

"We're going to get wet we should hurry up and get inside the car."

The two were already drenched with water.

"Just leave it," Ichigo said shaking her head.

Kisshu only gave her a questioning look. It was true, they were going to get wet anyway but he didn't want them both to go home looking like they had just jumped into a swimming pool and came out.

"I would say 'yes'," Ichigo told him.

"What?"

"The answer to your stupid question," She said again, "I would have said 'yes'."


End file.
